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Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau (/ˈwɔːsɔː/ ⓘ WAW-saw) is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Wisconsin River, it had a population of 39,994 at the 2020 census, while the Wausau metropolitan statistical area including all of Marathon County had a population of 138,000. The city's suburbs include Schofield, Weston, Mosinee, Maine, Rib Mountain, Kronenwetter, and Rothschild.
Wausau was originally inhabited by various indigenous peoples, including the Ojibwe, and was settled by European immigrants in the mid-19th century. It developed as a lumbering center due to its access to abundant pine forests and river transport. Over time, the local economy diversified to include paper manufacturing, insurance, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare. Cultural institutions such as the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum and Grand Theater contribute to the city's arts scene, while popular recreational attractions include Granite Peak Ski Area, Rib Mountain State Park, and the Wisconsin River.
This area has for millennia changed hands between various indigenous peoples. The Ojibwe (also known in the United States as the Chippewa) occupied it in the period of European encounter. They had a lucrative fur trade for decades with French colonists and French Canadians. After the French and Indian War this trade was dominated by British-American trappers from the eastern seaboard.
The Wisconsin River first drew European-American settlers to the area during the mid-19th century as they migrated west into the Great Lakes region following construction of the Erie Canal in New York State. This provided a route for products from the region to the large New York and other eastern markets. The area had been called "Big Bull Flats" or "Big Bull Falls" by French explorers, who were the first Europeans here. They named it for the long rapids in the river, which created many bubbles, called bulle in French. By an 1836 treaty with the United States, the Ojibwe ceded much of their lands in the area to federal ownership. It was sold to non-Native peoples. Wausau, from Ojibwe “waasa”, means "a faraway place".
George Stevens, the namesake of the city of Stevens Point south of Wausau, began harvesting the pine forests for lumber in 1840 and built a sawmill. Lumbering was the first major industry in this area, and other sawmills along the Wisconsin River were quickly constructed by entrepreneurs. By 1846, Walter McIndoe arrived and took the lead in the local business and community. His efforts helped to establish Marathon County in 1850. Word of Stevens's success in the region spread across the country throughout the logging industry.
By 1852, Wausau had been established as a town and continued to grow and mature. German immigration into the area following the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states brought more people, and by 1861, the settlement was incorporated as a village.
Churches, schools, industry and social organizations began to flourish. The state granted the city a charter in 1872, and elections are held the first Tuesday in April. The residents elected August Kickbusch as their first mayor in 1872. Five years earlier, Kickbusch had returned to his homeland of Germany and brought back with him 702 people, all of whom are believed to have settled in the Wausau area. Kickbusch founded the A. Kickbusch Wholesale Grocery Company, a family business carried on by his grandson, August Kickbusch II. In 1917, Kickbusch II bought a modest four-square-style house at 513 Grant Street. He made extensive additions, adding two sunrooms, arcaded windows, a tiled porch in the Mediterranean style, a formal classical entrance, and ornate custom-designed chimney crowns. The home is on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Andrew Warren Historic District.
When the railroad arrived in 1874, Wausau became more accessible to settlers and industry. This enabled the city to develop alternatives to the lumber industry, which was in decline since the clear-cutting of many forests. By 1906 the lumber was gone, but the city continued to grow and flourish. Other villages and towns in the area declined because of over-harvesting of the forests and lumber mills closed down.
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Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau (/ˈwɔːsɔː/ ⓘ WAW-saw) is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Wisconsin River, it had a population of 39,994 at the 2020 census, while the Wausau metropolitan statistical area including all of Marathon County had a population of 138,000. The city's suburbs include Schofield, Weston, Mosinee, Maine, Rib Mountain, Kronenwetter, and Rothschild.
Wausau was originally inhabited by various indigenous peoples, including the Ojibwe, and was settled by European immigrants in the mid-19th century. It developed as a lumbering center due to its access to abundant pine forests and river transport. Over time, the local economy diversified to include paper manufacturing, insurance, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare. Cultural institutions such as the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum and Grand Theater contribute to the city's arts scene, while popular recreational attractions include Granite Peak Ski Area, Rib Mountain State Park, and the Wisconsin River.
This area has for millennia changed hands between various indigenous peoples. The Ojibwe (also known in the United States as the Chippewa) occupied it in the period of European encounter. They had a lucrative fur trade for decades with French colonists and French Canadians. After the French and Indian War this trade was dominated by British-American trappers from the eastern seaboard.
The Wisconsin River first drew European-American settlers to the area during the mid-19th century as they migrated west into the Great Lakes region following construction of the Erie Canal in New York State. This provided a route for products from the region to the large New York and other eastern markets. The area had been called "Big Bull Flats" or "Big Bull Falls" by French explorers, who were the first Europeans here. They named it for the long rapids in the river, which created many bubbles, called bulle in French. By an 1836 treaty with the United States, the Ojibwe ceded much of their lands in the area to federal ownership. It was sold to non-Native peoples. Wausau, from Ojibwe “waasa”, means "a faraway place".
George Stevens, the namesake of the city of Stevens Point south of Wausau, began harvesting the pine forests for lumber in 1840 and built a sawmill. Lumbering was the first major industry in this area, and other sawmills along the Wisconsin River were quickly constructed by entrepreneurs. By 1846, Walter McIndoe arrived and took the lead in the local business and community. His efforts helped to establish Marathon County in 1850. Word of Stevens's success in the region spread across the country throughout the logging industry.
By 1852, Wausau had been established as a town and continued to grow and mature. German immigration into the area following the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states brought more people, and by 1861, the settlement was incorporated as a village.
Churches, schools, industry and social organizations began to flourish. The state granted the city a charter in 1872, and elections are held the first Tuesday in April. The residents elected August Kickbusch as their first mayor in 1872. Five years earlier, Kickbusch had returned to his homeland of Germany and brought back with him 702 people, all of whom are believed to have settled in the Wausau area. Kickbusch founded the A. Kickbusch Wholesale Grocery Company, a family business carried on by his grandson, August Kickbusch II. In 1917, Kickbusch II bought a modest four-square-style house at 513 Grant Street. He made extensive additions, adding two sunrooms, arcaded windows, a tiled porch in the Mediterranean style, a formal classical entrance, and ornate custom-designed chimney crowns. The home is on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Andrew Warren Historic District.
When the railroad arrived in 1874, Wausau became more accessible to settlers and industry. This enabled the city to develop alternatives to the lumber industry, which was in decline since the clear-cutting of many forests. By 1906 the lumber was gone, but the city continued to grow and flourish. Other villages and towns in the area declined because of over-harvesting of the forests and lumber mills closed down.
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