Washburn County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. 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 civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Shell Lake. The county was created in 1883.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (6.6%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 53 U.S. Route 53, or U.S. Highway 53 (U.S. 53), is a north–south U.S. highway that runs for 404 miles (650 km) from La Crosse, Wisconsin to International Falls, Minnesota. It is the primary north–south route in northwestern Wisconsin ...

U.S. Highway 63 U.S. Route 63 (US 63) is a , north–south United States Highway primarily in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at Interstate 20 (I-20) in Ruston, Louisiana; the northern terminus is at US ...

* Highway 48 (Wisconsin) * Highway 70 (Wisconsin) * Highway 77 (Wisconsin) * Highway 253 (Wisconsin)

Railroads

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad The Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad operates a historic train line centered in Trego, Wisconsin on 26 miles of track, between Spooner, Wisconsin and Springbrook, Wisconsin. It was founded on April 1, 1997. The line runs dinner trains, bed and ...

Buses

* List of intercity bus stops in Wisconsin

Airport

Shell Lake Municipal Airport (KSSQ) serves the county and surrounding communities.

Adjacent counties

* Douglas County - north *

Bayfield County Bayfield County is the northernmost county 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 C ...

- northeast *

Sawyer County Sawyer County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,074. Its county seat is Hayward. The county partly overlaps with the reservation of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa ...

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

National protected area

* Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (part)

Demographics

2020 census

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

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

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 lightness, 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 diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

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

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

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

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...

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 20 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 10,814 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5/km²). 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, 11.4% Norwegian, 7.0% Irish, 6.2%

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, 6.1% English and 5.6%

American ancestry American ancestry refers to people in the United States who 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 pe ...

. 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 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, 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.Reported Induced Abortions in Wisconsin
Office of Health Informatics, Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Section: Trend Information, 2013-2017, Table 18, pages 17-18

Communities

Cities

* Shell Lake (county seat) * Spooner

Villages

Birchwood Birchwood is a town in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England with a population of 11,395 (as at the 2001 census). Although physically and administratively part of Warrington, the civil parish council has named itself a town council. His ...

* Minong

Towns

* Barronett * Bashaw * Bass Lake * Beaver Brook *

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

* 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, macr ...

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

* Frog Creek *

Gull Lake Gull Lake may refer to: Native American entities *Gull Lake Indian Reservation, located near Brainerd, Minnesota, surrounding Gull Lake *Gull Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa, whose descendants are located on the White Earth Indian Reservation L ...

* 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. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant " chieftain", partic ...

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

Ghost towns

* Harmon

Politics

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