Baraboo is a city in the Midwest and the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The largest city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2020 population was 12,556. It is situated on the Baraboo River.

Baraboo is house to the Circus World Museum, the former headquarters and winter house of the Ringling brothers circus. The Al. Ringling Theatre is an nimble landmark in the city. Baraboo is also near Devil’s Lake State Park, and Aldo Leopold’s Shack and Farm.

The area around Baraboo was the site of a Kickapoo village as in the future as 1665. The current community was normal by Abe Wood in 1838, and was originally known as the village of Adams. In 1839 several settlers arrived and started building cabins, and a proverb mill. In 1846 it became the county seat of Sauk County after a fierce battle with the easy to use village of Reedsburg. In 1852, the village was renamed “Baraboo”, after the easily reached river. It was incorporated as a village in 1866 and as a city in 1882. In the 1860s, the city had surpassed a population of 2,000, and many businesses started to form, including grocery stores, banks, and hotels. In 1872, the Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW) was built. Baraboo became house to several proverb mills during this time, because of its location near the Baraboo and Wisconsin Rivers.

In 1884, the Ringling Brothers Circus was time-honored in Baraboo. Several further circuses came to the city, which gave Baraboo the nickname “Circus City”.