Antigo, Wisconsin
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Antigo ( ) is a city in and the
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 ...
of
Langlade County, Wisconsin Langlade County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,491. Its county seat is Antigo, Wisconsin, Antigo. History Langlade County was ...
, United States. The population was 8,100 at the 2020 census. Antigo is the center of a farming and lumbering district, and its manufactured products consist principally of lumber, chairs, furniture, sashes, doors and blinds, hubs and spokes, and other wood products.


History

The name Antigo is derived from the
Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
phrase "''niibin-inaandagoog-ziibiing''", meaning "summer balsam firs by the river", which was recorded by early settlers as "''nequi-antigo-sebi''". An alternate etymology, ''nibii-aamijiwan-ziibiing'', seems to be derived from ''mookijiwan-ziibiwishenh'', "spring little-river", which became the name of the river which runs through modern Antigo, Spring Brook. This alternate etymology lives on in the name of Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan Scout Reservation near Pearson. The region that is now Langlade County originally belonged to the
Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...
, with several
Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
and
Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
groups migrating to the area from the east throughout the 16th-19th centuries. During this time, the Ojibwe waged and won a major war against the eastern
Dakota people The Dakota (pronounced , or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe (Native American), tribe and First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultur ...
, driving them out of Wisconsin and Minnesota and securing the area's wild rice beds for themselves. By the mid-1800s, the Eau Claire River and its branches to the west of modern Antigo formed a boundary between the Ojibwe, Menominee, and
Ho-Chunk The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hocąk, Hoocągra, or Winnebago are a Siouan languages, Siouan-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois ...
tribes. The first permanent European-American settler in Langlade County was Willard Ackley, who arrived in 1853 from New York and established a trading post. He married an Ojibwe woman and became close with what is today the
Sokaogon Chippewa Community The Sokaogon Chippewa Community, or the Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, is a federally recognized tribe of the Lake Superior Chippewa, many of whom reside on the Mole Lake Indian Reservation, located southwest of the city of Crandon, ...
. The city was founded in 1876 by Francis A. Deleglise, accompanied by George Eckart. The
log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...
in which Deleglise lived is preserved and on display at the Langlade County Historical Society Museum. A street in Antigo also bears his name. The city gained its charter in 1883. In the early part of the 1900s, Antigo was best known for its sawmills. At the turn of the millennium, the city's economy had a balance of industry and agriculture. High on the list are potatoes, dairy products, fur, shoes, fertilizer, steel, and aluminum products, along with the lumber and wood product industries established in the earlier years. On April 24, 2016, a former Antigo High School student shot two students with a rifle during prom. As he approached the school with a rifle a police officer who was already on the scene shot him. He later died at a Wausau hospital. In June 13, 2019, the Antigo Baseball team won its first D2 state title. With a record of 21-5 the Robins faced off against Union Grove and won 8-3. A post office called Antigo was established in 1879. It has remained in operation ever since. The post office is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


Geography

Antigo is located approximately northwest of
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Antigo sits on a plateau about above sea level. The wide expanse of level land, the fine stand of timber and the fertility of the "Antigo Flats" soil soon attracted many settlers. Today, the Antigo silt loam soil is the state soil of
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 ...
.


Climate

Antigo has a cool
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Dfb''). Annually the temperature drops below 32 °F (0 °C) on 187 days, and below 0 °F (−17.8 °C) on 43 days. The daily mean temperatures of the winters in this region are associated with subarctic climates with frequent subzero temperatures, but due to the extended warm period of daily means above 50 °F (10 °C) from May to September it stays within the humid continental temperature range.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2020, there were 8,100 people, 3,694 households residing in the city. 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 . The racial makeup of the city was 95.2%
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 ...
, 0.4%
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 ...
, 0.6% Native American and 2.8% from two or more races.
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 people of any race were 2.9% of the population.


2010 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 8,234 people, 3,613 households, and 2,049 families residing in the city. 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 3,972 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.1%
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 ...
, 0.5%
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 ...
, 1.4% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races.
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 people of any race were 2.7% of the population. There were 3,613 households, of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.3% 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, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.3% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.88.


2000 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 8,560 people, 3,630 households, and 2,221 families residing in the city. 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 1,328.7 people per square mile (513.2/km2). There were 3,938 housing units at an average density of 611.3 per square mile (236.1/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 97.27%
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 ...
, 0.3%
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 ...
or
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 ...
, 0.86% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.01%
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 ...
, 0.32% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. 1.2% of the population were
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. There were 3,630 households, out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46% 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, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 89 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,548, and the median income for a family was $40,883. Males had a median income of $29,932 versus $20,156 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $16,592. About 10.2% of families and 13.2% 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 ...
, including 15.8% of those under age 18 and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.


Arts and culture

The Langlade County Museum is housed in the 1902 Carnegie library building on the corner of 7th Avenue and Superior Street. The building housed the Antigo Public Library from 1905 to 1997. The museum contains historical artifacts and archives of Langlade County and the City of Antigo.


Horse racing

Antigo has a rich history of horse racing that dates back more than a century, with documented races being held as early as the 1890s at the Langlade County Fairgrounds. A mural, located near the southwest intersection of U.S. Highway 45 and Fifth Avenue in Antigo, commemorates the deep ties Antigo still holds with the industry. Local riding associations, such as the Antigo Trotting Association (which held harness horse races), remained steadily active through the mid-20th century. The Rotary Derby Days, another popular series, emerged in the 1970s and persisted into the early 1980s. In the 1960s, the Wisconsin Horse Racing Association was established in Antigo, fostering a professional racing community reaching throughout the state. Racers journeyed along a circuit stretching from Antigo to Wittenberg, Shawano, Fond du Lac, and even reaching professional tracks in Illinois and beyond. Today, Antigo's name remains recognizable as the birthplace of many famous horse trainers of the 20th century in cities such as
Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Florida, United States. Located in North Central Florida, the city's population was 63,591 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 56,315 at the 2010 census and making ...
. Perhaps the most well-known horse trainer from the area, D. Wayne Lukas, is a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee who grew up in Antigo. Lukas has won 14 Triple Crown races, 20
Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...
titles and has been honored with numerous awards by the industry over his lengthy career.


Parks and recreation

The Clara R McKenna Aquatic Center, opened in 2005 and located adjacent to the Antigo High School, offers Antigo area residents a year-round recreation pool and lap pool. The Langlade County Fairgrounds, located in Antigo, features a multipurpose building that serves as an indoor ice rink in winter and accommodates mainly 4-H activities in other seasons. The racetrack, which was used for horse racing in the 20th century, today functions to primarily serve off-road, stock car racing and demolition derbies in the summer. Other facilities include a livestock barn, horse barn, poultry/rabbit barn and a large bleacher grandstand overlooking the horse arena and racetrack.


Education

Public schools in Antigo are administered by the Antigo Unified School District. Public schools within the city include: East Elementary School, North Elementary School, West Elementary School, Antigo Middle School, and Antigo High School. The Antigo High School's soccer team is currently the best it's ever been in program history, with a record of 40-5 in the last three seasons. In addition to the public schools, there are two parochial schools in Antigo which each serve grades kindergarten through eighth: Peace Lutheran School (Peace Lutheran Church) and All Saints Catholic School (St. John's Catholic Church).


Infrastructure


Transportation


Major highways

* U.S. 45, WIS 52, and WIS 64.


Railroad

Antigo was formerly served by intercity passenger rail at Antigo Depot.


Airport

Langlade County Airport is the only municipal airport in Antigo. The nearest commercial airport is the
Central Wisconsin Airport Central Wisconsin Airport , referred to as "C-Way", is a public airport located southeast of the central business district of Mosinee, in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. It is owned by Marathon County and Portage County. It is in ...
, about 50 minutes away in Mosinee.


Notable people

* Clayton Bailey, sculptor * James A. Barker, Wisconsin state senator * Justin Berg,
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
pitcher *
James Bradley James Bradley (September 1692 – 13 July 1762) was an English astronomer and priest who served as the third Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and ...
, son of John Bradley, author of '' Flags of Our Fathers'' and '' Flyboys: A True Story of Courage'' * John Bradley, Navy corpsman who took part in the Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima * Walter D. Cavers, Wisconsin state representative * James Randall Durfee, U.S. federal court judge * Clair Finch, Wisconsin state representative and lawyer * Charles Gowan, former Antigo mayor * Daniel Hartl, geneticist * Jon Hohman, professional football player * Paul E. Knapp, U.S. Air Force major general, Wisconsin state adjutant general * George W. Latta, Wisconsin state representative * Alfred J. Lauby, Wisconsin state representative * D. Wayne Lukas, U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...
* Thomas Lynch, U.S. Representative * Francis J. McCormick, NFL player * Elmer Addison Morse, U.S. Representative * Thomas D. Ourada, Wisconsin state representative * Joe Piskula,
Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...
defenseman * Burt W. Rynders, Wisconsin state representative and mayor of Antigo * Ray Szmanda, radio and television personality/spokesperson * Margaret Turnbull, astronomer, graduate of Antigo High School * James M. Vande Hey, U.S. Air Force general * Clair H. Voss, presiding judge of the
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 ...
* Clarence E. Wagner, mayor of
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
* Eli Waste, Wisconsin state representative * Sarah Waukau, Wisconsin state representative


References


External links


City of Antigo
* Sanborn fire insurance maps
188918921898190419091919
{{authority control Cities in Wisconsin Cities in Langlade County, Wisconsin County seats in Wisconsin School shootings in Wisconsin 1878 establishments in Wisconsin