List_of_counties_in_Wisconsin

List of counties in Wisconsin

List of counties in Wisconsin

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There are 72 counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The land that eventually became Wisconsin was transferred from British to American control with the 1783 signing of the Treaty of Paris.[1] It was an unorganized part of the Northwest Territory until 1802 when all of the land from St. Louis north to the Canadian border was organized as St. Clair County.[1] When Illinois was admitted to the union in 1818, Wisconsin became part of the Territory of Michigan and divided into two counties: Brown County in the northeast along Lake Michigan and Crawford County in the southwest along the Mississippi River.[1] Iowa County was formed in 1829 from the Crawford County land south of the Wisconsin River.[1] Brown County's southern portion was used to form Milwaukee County in 1834.[1] The state of Wisconsin was created from Wisconsin Territory on May 29, 1848, with 28 counties.

Quick Facts Counties of Wisconsin, Location ...

The most populous county in the state is Milwaukee County at 918,661 people at the 2022 Census estimate.[2] The county with the least population is Menominee County with 4,197 residents; the Menominee Indian Reservation is co-extensive with the county.[2] Pepin County is the smallest in area, with 231.98 square miles (600.8 km2); Marathon is the largest, having 1,544.91 square miles (4,001.3 km2).[2]

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry.[3] Wisconsin's code is 55, which when combined with any county code would be written as 55XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.[4]

Governance

Each county has a county seat, often a populous or centrally located community, where the county's governmental offices are located. Some of the services provided by the county include: law enforcement, circuit courts, social services, vital records and deed registration, road maintenance, and snow removal. County officials include sheriffs, district attorneys, clerks, treasurers, coroners, surveyors, registers of deeds, and clerks of circuit court; these officers are elected for four-year terms. In most counties, elected coroners have been replaced by appointed medical examiners. State law permits counties to appoint a registered land surveyor in place of electing a surveyor.

Counties in Wisconsin are governed by county boards, headed by a chairperson. Counties with a population of 500,000 or more must also have a county executive. Smaller counties may have either a county executive or a county administrator.[5] As of 2011, 13 counties had elected county executives: Brown, Chippewa, Dane, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Portage, Racine, Sawyer, Waukesha, and Winnebago. 23 had an appointed county administrator, 34 had an appointed administrative coordinator, and 2 had neither an executive nor an administrator. Waukesha County had both an executive and an administrator.[6]

List of counties

More information County, FIPS code ...

Renamed counties

Five counties in Wisconsin have been renamed, but otherwise kept their same borders.[11]

  • Bad Axe County existed from 1851 to 1862. It was named after the Bad Axe River and the Battle of Bad Axe. It was renamed to Vernon County in 1862.[12]
  • Dallas County existed for 10 years, from 1859 to 1869. It was named after George M. Dallas, the 11th vice president of the United States. It was named to Barron County in 1869.[13]
  • Gates County existed from 1901 to 1905. It was named after Milwaukee land speculator James L. Gates.[14] It was renamed to Rusk County in 1905.[15]
  • La Pointe County existed from 1845 to 1866. In 1848, when Wisconsin achieved statehood, La Pointe County was split between Wisconsin and Minnesota. It was renamed to Bayfield County in 1866.[16]
  • New County existed briefly between 1879 and 1880. It was formed from part of Oconto County. It was renamed to Langlade County in 1880.[17]

Proposed counties

Two proposed counties were ultimately not established.

  • In 1850, Tuskola County was proposed as a new subdivision of Washington County.[9] The proposed borders lie within the modern Washington and Ozaukee counties.[18]
  • In 1997, Century County was proposed, for creation after the year 2000, as a merger of Wood, Clark, and Marathon counties that would be centered around the city of Marshfield. The name was selected to represent "a new county for a new century".[19] Problems associated with Frac Sand mining rekindled the idea in 2012.[20]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn (1919). History of Buffalo and Pepin Counties, Wisconsin, Volume 1. Higginson Book Company. pp. 3–4. Archived from the original on 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  2. [2]
    "Wisconsin QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2023-04-03. (2022 Census estimates)
  3. [3]
    "FIPS Publish 6-4". National Institute of Standards and Technology. Archived from the original on 2013-09-29. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  4. [4]
    "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". US Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from the original on 2013-10-07. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  5. [5]
    Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. State of Wisconsin 2011–2012 Blue Book Archived 2017-12-28 at the Wayback Machine. Madison: Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, 2011, p. 736.
  6. [6]
    Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. State of Wisconsin 2011–2012 Blue Book Archived 2017-12-28 at the Wayback Machine. Madison: Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, 2011, p. 732.
  7. [7]
    "NACo – Find a county". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  8. [8]
    Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. State of Wisconsin 2011–2012 Blue Book Archived 2017-12-28 at the Wayback Machine. Madison: Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, 2011, p. 731.
  9. [9]
    Carver, Jonathon (1910). Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at its Fifty-Seventh Annual Meeting (1st ed.). Madison WI: Democrat Printing Company. (WV County Founding Dates and Etymology). Other editions available at ISBN 1130567257 and Google Books Archived 2023-04-04 at the Wayback Machine
  10. [10]
    Elkins, Winston (1985). Trempealeau and the Mississippi River Dam. Trempealeau County, WI: Trempealeau County Historical Society.
  11. [11]
    "Interactive Map of Wisconsin County Formation History". mapgeeks.org. Archived from the original on 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
  12. [12]
    History of Vernon County, Wisconsin. Viroqua, WI: Union Publishing. 1884. p. 132. (Bad Ax County). Other editions available: ISBN 1178120341 and Google Books
  13. [13]
    "Dictionary of Wisconsin History". Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  14. [14]
    Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 135.
  15. [15]
    Rusk County Museum Archived 2013-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
  16. [16]
    "Wisconsin Historical Society-La Pointe County, Wisconsin (obsolete)". Archived from the original on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  17. [17]
    'History of Langlade County, Wisconsin from U.S. Government Survey to Present Time, With Biographical Sketches,' Robert Dessueran, Bernier Bros Publishing Co., Antigo, Wisconsin: 1922, History of Langlade County, Chapter V: Organization of Langlade County, pg. 12
  18. [18]
    Wisconsin (1850). "Acts and Resolves Passed by the Legislature of Wisconsin". Archived from the original on 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  19. [19]
    Clark, Anita (1997-09-28). "New county only solution to poor service, some say". The Journal Times. Archived from the original on 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2017-01-09.
  20. [20]
    Kirkby, Sean (2012-03-04). "Professor advocates creating a new state county". Badger Herald. The Badger Herald. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
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