Douglas 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 northwest corner of the U.S. state 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,295 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 Superior. Douglas County is included in the

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Douglas County, named after

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Senator Stephen A. Douglas, was established on February 8, 1854, from the larger La Pointe County, Wisconsin, and the City of Superior was immediately selected as the county seat. In Wisconsin's 1952 U.S. Senate primary, Douglas County was one of two counties (out of 71 in the state at the time) that Sen. Joe McCarthy did not carry.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (12%) is water. Part of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation is in Douglas County.

Adjacent counties

* Bayfield County – east * Sawyer County – southeast * Washburn County – south * Burnett County – southwest * Pine County, Minnesota – southwest * Carlton County, Minnesota – west *

Saint Louis County, Minnesota St. Louis County is a County (United States), county in the Arrowhead Region of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 200,231. Its county seat is Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth. It is the largest counties ...

– northwest * Lake County, Minnesota - northeast

Major highways

Railroads

* BNSF * Canadian National * Canadian Pacific *

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

Buses

* Duluth Transit Authority * Indian Trails

Airports

* Solon Springs Municipal Airport (KOLG) serves the county and surrounding communities. * Richard I. Bong Airport (KSUW)

National protected area

* Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 44,295. 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 22,906 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 89.7%

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 ...

, 1.8% Native American, 1.3%

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 ...

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% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 5.9% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 1.7%

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.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 44,159 people living in the county. 93.2% were

, 2.0% Native American, 1.1% Black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% of some other race and 2.7% of two or more races. 1.1% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 20.7% were of German, 11.2% Norwegian, 9.7% Swedish, 7.8% Irish, 6.4% Finnish and 6.1% Polish ancestry.

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 43,287 people, 17,808 households, and 11,272 families living in the county. The

was . There were 20,356 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.35%

, 0.57%

, 1.82% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.03%

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 ...

, 0.20% from other races, and 1.41% from two or more races. 0.73% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 17.8% had German, 13.5% Norwegian, 11.5% Swedish, 8.5% Irish, 8.2% Finnish, 6.8% Polish and 5.1%

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

or American ancestry. 96.7% spoke English and 1.2% Spanish as their first language. There were 17,808 households, out of which 29.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.10% 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, 10.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.70% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.93. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.60% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 28.00% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 14.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.40 males. In 2017, there were 413 births, giving a general fertility rate of 50.8 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the seventh lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Additionally, there were no reported induced abortions performed on women of Douglas 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

City

* Superior (county seat)

Villages

* Lake Nebagamon * Oliver * Poplar * Solon Springs * Superior

Towns

* Amnicon * Bennett * Brule * Cloverland * Dairyland * Gordon * Hawthorne *

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

* Lakeside * Maple * Oakland * Parkland * Solon Springs *

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

* Superior * Wascott

Census-designated places

* Brule * Gordon

Unincorporated communities

* Ambridge * Amnicon Falls * Anton * Beebe * Bellwood * Bennett * Black River * Blueberry * Borea * Boylston * Boylston Junction * Carnegie * Chaffey * Cloverland * Cozy Corner * Cutter * Dairyland * Dedham * Dewey * Dobie * Four Corners * Foxboro * Hawthorne * Hillcrest * Hines * Maple * Middle River * Moose Junction * Parkland * Patzau * Peyton * Pokegama * Riverview * Rockmont * Saunders * Sauntry * South Itasca * South Range * Sunnyside * Waino * Wascott * Wentworth * Winneboujou

Ghost towns

* Merriam * Millcrest * Morrison (Allouez) (annexed by the City of Superior) * New Bristol (Martinson) * Nutt * Pokegama Junction * Steele * Troy * Walbridge * Way * Wiehe

Politics

Douglas County has one of the longest Democratic voting streaks in the nation in presidential elections; the last Republican presidential candidate to win Douglas County was

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

in 1928. But in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

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 ...

received the highest percentage of Douglas County's vote for a Republican since the county's Democratic streak began, signaling a new competitiveness in the county. In every presidential election between 1984 and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, the county was always the second-most Democratic in the state (behind only Native American-dominated Menominee County), before being surpassed by Dane County in 2004 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, 2004, and several others since 2008 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, 2008. Douglas County also regularly supports Democratic candidates at the state level.

References

External links

Douglas County website

Superior–Douglas County Convention and Visitors Bureau

Superior–Douglas County Chamber of Commerce
* Map o
Douglas County
Wisconsin Department of Transportation {{authority control Douglas County, Wisconsin, 1854 establishments in Wisconsin Populated places established in 1854