Washburn County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. It is named after Governor Cadwallader C. Washburn. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,623. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Shell Lake. The county was created in 1883. The county is considered a high-recreation retirement destination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (6.6%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 53 * U.S. Highway 63 * Highway 48 (Wisconsin) * Highway 70 (Wisconsin) *

Highway 77 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 77 (often called Highway 77, STH-77 or WIS 77) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs east–west in northwest Wisconsin from the Minnesota border near Danbury to just west of the Michigan border in ...

* Highway 253 (Wisconsin)

Railroads

* Canadian National * Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad

Buses

Airport

Shell Lake Municipal Airport Shell Lake Municipal Airport is a city owned public use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Shell Lake, a city in Washburn County, Wisconsin, United States. It is included in the Fe ...

(KSSQ) serves the county and surrounding communities.

Adjacent counties

* Douglas County - north *

Bayfield County Bayfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population is 16,220. Its county seat is Washburn. The county was created in 1845 and organized in 1850. The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chipp ...

- northeast * Sawyer County - east * Rusk County - southeast * Barron County - south * Burnett County - west

National protected area

Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway The Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway is a federally protected system of riverways located in eastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. It protects of river, including the St. Croix River (on the Wisconsin/Minnesota border), and the ...

(part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 16,623. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 12,708 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 92.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.2% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.2%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.5% from other races, and 4.8% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 1.8%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 16,036 people, 6,604 households, and 4,530 families residing in the county. The

was . There were 10,814 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.27%

, 0.17%

, 1.01% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.02%

, 0.12% from other races, and 1.22% from two or more races. 0.89% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 33.9% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 11.4% Norwegian, 7.0% Irish, 6.2% Swedish, 6.1% English and 5.6%

American ancestry In the demography of the United States, some people self-identify their ancestral origin or descent as "American", rather than the more common officially recognized racial and ethnic groups that make up the bulk of the American people. The ...

. There were 6,604 households, out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.88. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.3 males. In 2017, there were 153 births, giving a general fertility rate of 70.0 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 17th highest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Additionally, there were fewer than five reported induced abortions performed on women of Washburn County residence in 2017.

Communities

Cities

* Shell Lake (county seat) * Spooner

Villages

* Birchwood * Minong

Towns

* Barronett *

Bashaw Bashaw may refer to: Places ;Canada * Bashaw, Alberta ** Bashaw Airport ;United States * Bashaw, Wisconsin, a town * Bashaw, Burnett County, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Bashaw Township, Brown County, Minnesota Others * Mose Bashaw (188 ...

* Bass Lake * Beaver Brook * Birchwood *

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

* Casey * Chicog *

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

* Frog Creek * Gull Lake * Long Lake * Madge * Minong * Sarona * Spooner * Springbrook * Stinnett * Stone Lake * Trego

Census-designated places

* Springbrook * Stone Lake (part) * Trego

Other unincorporated communities

* Beaver Brook * Chicago Junction * Chittamo *

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

* Lampson * Madge * Nobleton * Sarona * Springbrook * Stanberry

Ghost towns

* Harmon

Politics

Between 1964 and 2008, Washburn County backed the nationwide winner in every election except for 1988. In 2012,

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

defeated

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the county by a margin of less than 3%, after Obama had won the county by more than 4% in 2008 over

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

. Washburn County moved significantly to the right in 2016, as

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

took over 59% of the county's vote and won by a margin of over 23%, the best margin of victory for any candidate in the county since 1964. He slightly increased his margin of victory to nearly 24% in 2020 and further increased it to more than 28% in 2024 while turning in the best vote share for a Republican in the county since 1928 at over 63%.

Education

School districts include: * Birchwood School District * Hayward Community School District * Northwood School District * Rice Lake Area School District * Shell Lake School District * Spooner Area School District In 1918, the loss of the SS ''Tuscania'' prompted the county to burn its German textbooks as part of anti-German sentiment in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

References

External links

Washburn County website

Washburn County map
from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Washburn County tourism website
{{authority control 1883 establishments in Wisconsin Populated places established in 1883