Rice Lake is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in
Barron County
Barron County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,711. Its county seat is Barron. The county was created in 1859 and later organized in 1874.
History
The county was created in 1859 ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 9,040. The city is located mostly within the
Town of Rice Lake.
History
Rice Lake was named in 1870 after nearby
Rice Lake. A post office has been in operation in Rice Lake since 1872.
Geography
Rice Lake is located at (45.498408, -91.738844).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
Rice Lake is along the
Red Cedar River.
Climate
Demographics
As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $34,637, and the median income for a family was $53,056. Males had a median income of $40,450 versus $30,211 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $22,354. About 6.9% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 13.4% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 8,438 people, 3,936 households, and 2,065 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 4,239 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.2%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.3%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.9%
Native American, 0.8%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.5% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.3% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 2.4% of the population.
There were 3,936 households, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.5% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.79.
The median age in the city was 41.2 years. 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.5% were from 45 to 64; and 21.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.8% male and 53.2% female.
Infrastructure
U.S. Highway 53,
Wisconsin Highway 48
State Trunk Highway 48 (often called Highway 48, STH-48 or WIS 48) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs east–west in northwest Wisconsin from Grantsburg to Exeland.
Route description
The highway begins at its inter ...
, County Road SS (Main Street), and County Road O (South Access Road) are the main routes in the city.
The area is served by
Rice Lake Regional Airport
Rice Lake Regional Airport is a city owned public use airport located five nautical miles (9 km) southwest of the central business district of Rice Lake, a city in Barron County, Wisconsin, United States. The airport is situated in the vil ...
- Carl's Field (KRPD), which is located south of Rice Lake.
Rice Lake formerly had passenger rail service at the
Rice Lake station.
Education
Public schools
Rice Lake Area School District operates public schools:
*
Rice Lake High School
* Northern Lakes Regional Academy
* Rice Lake Middle School
* Haugen Elementary
* Hilltop Elementary
* Tainter Elementary
Private schools
* Redeemer Lutheran School
* St. Joseph School
Post-secondary education
*
University of Wisconsin–Barron County
*
Northwood Technical College, formerly Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College - Rice Lake Campus
Economy
Rice Lake serves as a shopping, industrial, educational, and medical hub for the surrounding rural communities of
Barron,
Cameron,
Chetek
Chetek is a city in Barron County, Wisconsin, Barron County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,221 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located partially within the Chetek (town), Wisconsin, Town of Chetek.
Hist ...
,
Shell Lake,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
,
Spooner,
Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to:
* Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
* Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada
* Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States
* Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia
* Ladysmith, Virginia, United States
* Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...
.
Notable people
*
Kenny Bednarek
Kenny Bednarek (born October 14, 1998) is an American track and field sprinter from Rice Lake, Wisconsin. He specializes in the 200-meter distance, having won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and at the 2022 World Championships.
Sing ...
- American sprinter
*
John G. Blystone - film director
*
Edward R. Brunner - justice of
Wisconsin Court of Appeals
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...
*
Howard W. Cameron
Howard W. Cameron (April 3, 1915 – March 13, 1986) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Senate from Rice Lake.
Life and career
Cameron was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in April 1915. He gradua ...
- Wisconsin State Senator
*
William M. Conley
William Martin Conley (born May 25, 1956) is an American lawyer and a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Early life and education
Born in Rice L ...
- federal judge
*
William Henry Dietz
William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz (August 17, 1884 – July 20, 1964) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Washington State University (1915–1917), Purdue University (1921), Louisiana Tech University ( ...
- college and NFL head coach
*
Henry Ellenson
Henry John Ellenson (born January 13, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for Club Joventut Badalona of the Liga ACB. He played one season of college basketball for Marquette, before being drafted 18th overall by the Pistons i ...
- professional basketball player for the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
*
Foster Friess
Foster Stephen Friess (April 2, 1940 – May 27, 2021) was an American investment manager and prominent donor to the Republican Party and to Christian right causes. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor of Wyoming in ...
- businessman
*
Eric G. Gibson
Eric Gunnar Gibson (October 3, 1919 – January 28, 1944) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Biography
Born in Sweden, Gibson ...
-
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
recipient
*
Hal Kolstad - MLB player
*
Isaac J. Kvam - Wisconsin State Representative
*
Dick Lane - announcer, film and television actor
*
James P. Leary- folklorist
*
Warren D. Leary
Warren D. Leary, Sr. (December 3, 1891 – May 19, 1959) was an American politician and newspaper editor.
Born in Elmira, New York, Leary served in the United States Army during World War I and World War II and was the inspector general of the ...
- Wisconsin State Representative
*
Michael A. Lehman - Wisconsin State Representative
* Susan Ludvigson - poet in South Carolina
*
Pug Lund
Francis "Pug" Lund (April 18, 1913 – May 26, 1994) was an American football player. Lund was born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin and attended Rice Lake High School.
As a Minnesota Gopher halfback, Lund was named All-Conference in both 1933 and ...
- football player
*
Harold Olsen
Harold G. Olsen (May 12, 1895 – October 29, 1953) was a college men's basketball coach. The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was the head coach of the Ohio State University from 1922 to 1946. That year, he became the first head coach of the BAA's ...
- head coach of
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
,
Northwestern and NBA's
Chicago Stags
The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago from 1946 to 1950.
History
1946–47 season
In the BAA's inaugural year, the Chicago Stags were placed in the Western Division, and after 60 games were tied with the ...
, member of
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...
*
Clay Perry
Clair Willard Perry (1887–1961), called Clay Perry, was an American writer and outdoorsman. He coined the term " spelunker".
Biography
Born in 1887 in Waupaca, Wisconsin, Perry moved to western Massachusetts as a young man. A novelist, short sto ...
- MLB player
*
Jason Rae
Jason Rae (born November 25, 1986) is an American activist and Democratic National Committee (DNC) member from Wisconsin. He is the youngest person ever elected to the DNC. On February 5, 2017, he was elected to serve as secretary of the DNC.
...
- Secretary of
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
*
Kapp Rasmussen - Wisconsin State Representative and lawyer
*
Fred Thomas - MLB player
*
John W. Vaudreuil - U.S. Attorney
* Ann Cameron - children's book author living in Guatemala
Sister cities
Rice Lake has two
sister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
:
*
Miharu, Japan
*
Žamberk
Žamberk (; german: Senftenberg in Böhmen) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,000 inhabitants. In lies on the Divoká Orlice river. The town centre is well preserved and is pr ...
, Czech Republic
Local media
*
WAQE (AM)
WAQE (1090 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. The station had a classic country format until August 29, 2009, when it changed to Sports Talk 1090. The lineup includes Dan Patrick, Jim Rome, and Fox Sports Radio. Licensed to ...
1090, Talk & Sports
*
WAQE-FM
WAQE-FM (97.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary music format. It is licensed to Barron, Wisconsin, United States. The station is currently owned by TKC, Inc. and features programming from CBS News Radio and Westwood One. ...
97.7, All the Stars, All the Time
*
WJMC (AM)
WJMC (1240 kHz) is an AM radio station broadcasting a full-service format of middle of the road music, news, and talk. Licensed to Rice Lake, Wisconsin, United States, the station serves the Rice Lake-Spooner area. The station is currently o ...
1240, Good Friends and Great Information
*
WJMC-FM 96.1, The Best Country Station, Number One
*
WKFX FM 99.1, Classic Hits
*
WWJP-LP FM 101.7, 3ABN Radio, Christian
*
WYRL-LP FM 105.5, Eclectic Music, Local Government Discussion
References
External links
City of Rice LakeRice Lake Chamber of Commerce* Sanborn fire insurance maps
189318991917
{{authority control
Cities in Wisconsin
Cities in Barron County, Wisconsin