Marathon 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 ...

located 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 138,013. 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 Wausau. It was founded in 1850, created from a portion of Portage County. At that time the county stretched to the northern border with the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula of ...

. It is named after the battlefield at

Marathon, Greece Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, ''Marathónas''; Ancient Greek, Attic/Katharevousa: , ''Marathṓn'') is a town in Greece and the site of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered Classical Athens, Athenia ...

. Marathon County comprises the Wausau, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Wausau– Stevens Point– Wisconsin Rapids, WI Combined Statistical Area.

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 (2.0%) is water. It is the largest county in Wisconsin by land area and fourth-largest by total area. The Marathon County Park Commission has posted a geographical marker that identifies the spot (45°N, 90°W) of the exact center of the northern half of the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

, meaning that it is a quarter of the way around the world from the

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrarily chosen meridian (geography), meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. On a spheroid, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian ...

and halfway from the

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

Major highways

Interstate 39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a north–south Interstate Highway in Illinois and Wisconsin that runs from an interchange at I-55 in Normal, Illinois, to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) approximately south of Wausau, Wisconsin. In to ...

* US Highway 51 * Wisconsin Highway 13 *

Wisconsin Highway 29 State Trunk Highway 29 (often called Highway 29, STH-29 or WIS 29) is a state highway running east–west across central Wisconsin. It is a major east–west corridor connecting the Twin Cities and the Chippewa Valley with Wausau ...

* Wisconsin Highway 34 * Wisconsin Highway 49 * Wisconsin Highway 52 * Wisconsin Highway 97 * Wisconsin Highway 98 * Wisconsin Highway 107 * Wisconsin Highway 153

Railroads

* Canadian National *

Watco Watco Companies, L.L.C. (Watco) Watco is an American transportation and logistics company based in Pittsburg, Kansas. The company’s core services are freight transportation, material handling and storage, logistics, railcar repair and maintena ...

Buses

* Metro Ride

Airports

* KAUW -

Wausau Downtown Airport Wausau Downtown Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located in Wausau, Wisconsin, Wausau, a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The airport serves general aviation aircraft, charter flights and ...

* KCWA -

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 ...

Adjacent counties

* Lincoln County - north * Langlade County - northeast * Shawano County - east * Waupaca County - southeast * Portage County - south * Wood County - south * Clark County - west * Taylor County - northwest

Natural wildlife refuges

* Mead Wildlife Area

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 138,013. 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 59,828 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 86.9%

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 ...

, 6.2% Asian, 0.9%

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 ...

, 0.5% Native American, 1.3% from other races, and 4.3% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 3.2%

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

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 125,834 people, 47,702 households, and 33,868 families residing in the county. The

was . There were 50,360 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.84%

, 0.28%

, 0.35% Native American, 4.54% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.26% from other races, and 0.72% from two or more races. 0.78% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 52.6% 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 ...

and 13.6% Polish ancestry. 92.9% spoke English, 3.4% Hmong, 1.1%

and 1.1%

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

as their first language. There were 47,702 households, out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.90% 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, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.11. In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.80% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 29.50% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 97.40 males.

Libraries

The Marathon County Public Library ( MCPL) has its headquarters in downtown

Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Wisconsin River and had a population of 39,994 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the core city of the Wausau ...

. Eight branch libraries have been established in the cities of Athens, Edgar, Hatley, Marathon City, Mosinee, Rothschild, Spencer, and Stratford.

Recreation

County parks

* Amco County Park * Big Eau Pleine County Park * Big Rapids County Park * Bluegill Bay County Park * Cherokee County Park * Courthouse Square * D.C. Everest County Park * Dells of the Eau Claire County Park * Duane L. Corbin Shooting Range Park * Library Park * Marathon Park * Mission Lake County Park * Mountain-Bay State Park Trail * Reitbrock Geographical Marker * Rib Falls County Park * Sunny Vale County Park

Snowmobile trails

There are over 884 miles of groomed snowmobile trails in Marathon County maintained by 29 area snowmobile clubs.

Communities

Cities

* Abbotsford (mostly in Clark County) * Colby (mostly in Clark County) * Marshfield (mostly in Wood County) * Mosinee * Schofield * Wausau (county seat)

Villages

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

* Birnamwood (mostly in Shawano County) * Dorchester (mostly in Clark County) *

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

* Elderon * Fenwood * Hatley * Kronenwetter *

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

* Marathon City * Rib Mountain *

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

* Spencer * Stratford * Unity (partly in Clark County) *

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

Towns

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

* Bevent *

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

* Cassel *

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

* Easton * Eau Pleine * Elderon * Emmet * Frankfort * Franzen * Green Valley * Guenther * Halsey *

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

* Harrison * Hewitt * Holton * Hull *

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

* Knowlton *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

* McMillan * Mosinee * Norrie *

Plover Plovers ( , ) are members of a widely distributed group of wader, wading birds of subfamily Charadriinae. The term "plover" applies to all the members of the subfamily, though only about half of them include it in their name. Species lis ...

* Reid * Rib Falls * Rietbrock * Ringle * Spencer *

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

* Wausau *

Wien Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Census-designated places

* Knowlton * Rib Mountain

Unincorporated communities

* Ashley * Bradley *

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

* Dancy * Emmerich *

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 ...

* Gad (partial) *

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

* Glandon * Granite Heights * Halder *

* Hogarty * Holt *

* Kalinke * Little Chicago * Little Eau Claire * Little Rose *

Mann Mann may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Mann'' (film), a 1999 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama * Mann (chess), a variant chess piece * ''Mann'' (magazine), a Norwegian magazine * Mann (rapper), Dijon Shariff Thames (born 19 ...

* March Rapids * McMillan *

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

* Mount View * Naugart * Norrie * Nutterville * Pike Lake * Poniatowski * Rangeline * Rib Falls * Ringle * Rocky Corners * Rozellville * Schnappsville * Snell * Shantytown *

Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

* Taegesville * Weber *

* Wuertsburg

Ghost towns/neighborhoods

* Callon * Staadts *

* Ziegler

Politics

Marathon County has been a competitive county at the presidential level for most of its history. Since 2016,

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 ...

has carried it by double-digit margins in all three of his campaigns, including his loss in the 2020 election.

Education

School districts include:
Text list
/ref> * Abbotsford School District * Antigo School District * Athens School District * Auburndale School District * Colby School District * D.C. Everest Area School District * Edgar School District * Marathon City School District * Marshfield School District * Medford Area School District * Merrill Area School District * Mosinee School District * Rosholt School District * Spencer School District * Stratford School District * Wausau School District * Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District

References

External links

Marathon County

Marathon County map
from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation * Plat maps
ca. 188119011905-1917ca. 1912ca. 19201930

Libraries and Schools in Marathon and Lincoln Counties
- Digital collection of historic images and texts on schools and libraries in Marathon and Lincoln Counties {{authority control 1850 establishments in Wisconsin Populated places established in 1850