Florence is a town in Florence County,

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 ...

, United States. The population was 2,319 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 54121.

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

is also the name of a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

within the town about northwest of Iron Mountain,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

; the community is 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 Florence County. The unincorporated communities of

Hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...

, Pulp, Ridgetop, Spread Eagle, and Tyran are also located in the town.

History

Florence and the area surrounding 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 ...

and was a hunting and trapping region until iron was discovered there in the 1870s. The Florence Mine was discovered in October 1874 by H. D. Fisher. The mine was named in 1879 after the wife of

Nelson Powell Hulst Nelson Powell Hulst (February 8, 1842 - January 11, 1923) was an industrialist, engineer, chemist, and a leader in the development of the Menominee Iron Range. He discovered and developed six major mines in Upper Michigan (Vulcan, Cyclops, Norw ...

, Florence Terry Hulst. The county subsequently took on the same name.

Geography

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 county has a total area of or ). of it is land, of it (2.57%) is water, and 80% is forested.

Highways

* is concurrent with US 141. * is concurrent with US 2 through the town. North they travel to Crystal Falls south they continue into Iron Mountain. * westbound connects with Eagle River.

Climate

Demographics

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 2,319 people, 963 households, and 638 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,724 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.10%

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 ...

, 0.17%

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 ...

, 0.43% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.04% from other races, and 0.82% 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 of any race were 0.26% of the population. There were 963 households, out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% 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, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.88. In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $35,640, and the median income for a family was $42,933. Males had a median income of $31,941 versus $19,621 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 town was $18,131. About 7.6% of families and 9.7% 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 12.5% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Most residents of Florence county work in nearby Iron Mountain/ Kingsford, Michigan. Florence's principal industry is

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, truckssnowmobile trail system in Wisconsin, and is a major county for those wanting to fish, hunt, or camp. A large paper mill was built in the town in about 1889. Press reports called it the largest such facility in the United States when it was damaged by an earthquake on September 7, 1889.

Education

Florence High School is the area's public high school.

Notable people

* Mike Grell (born September 13, 1947) is an American

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

writer and artist, known for his work on books such as '' Green Lantern/Green Arrow'', '' The Warlord'', and '' Jon Sable Freelance''. * C. E. McIntosh, Wisconsin State Representative, lived in Florence * Charles White Whittlesey,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient 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 ...

, was born in Florence

External links

Town of Florence Official WebsiteFlorence County School District

References

{{authority control Towns in Florence County, Wisconsin Iron Mountain micropolitan area Towns in Wisconsin Logging communities in the United States