Barron 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 ...

located 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,711. 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 Barron. The county was created in 1859 and later organized in 1874.

History

The county was created in 1859 as Dallas County (named after Vice President George M. Dallas), with the county seat located at Barron. It was renamed Barron County on March 4, 1869. The county took the name Barron in honor of Wisconsin lawyer and politician Henry D. Barron, who served as circuit judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Barron County was organized in 1874. In the late 1800s and early 1900s a community of Russian immigrants moved to Barron County.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), 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 Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.0%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Washburn County – north * Sawyer County – northeast * Rusk County – east * Chippewa County – southeast * Dunn County – south * St. Croix County – southwest * Polk County – west * Burnett County – northwest

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 8 *

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, s ...

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 25 (Wisconsin) *

Highway 48 (Wisconsin) State Trunk Highway 48 (often called Highway 48, STH-48 or WIS 48) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs east–west in northwest Wisconsin from Grantsburg to Exeland. Route description The highway begins at its inters ...

Railroads

* Wisconsin Northern Railroad *

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 ...

Buses

* List of intercity bus stops in Wisconsin

Airports

* KRPD -

Rice Lake Regional Airport Rice Lake Regional Airport is a city owned public use airport located five nautical miles (9 km) southwest of the central business district of Rice Lake, a city in Barron County, Wisconsin, United States. The airport is situated in the vil ...

serves Barron County. * KUBE - Cumberland Municipal Airport is located three miles south of Cumberland. * Y23 - Chetek Municipal–Southworth Airport also serves the county and surrounding communities. * 9Y7 - Barron Municipal Airport enhances county service.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 46,711. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was . There were 23,779 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.1%

White White is the 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 reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 1.8%

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 ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.0% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 1.2% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 2.7%

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

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 44,963 people, 17,851 households, and 12,352 families residing in the county. The

was 52 people per square mile (20/km²). There were 20,969 housing units at an average density of 24 per square mile (9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.69%

, 0.14%

, 0.81% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.04%

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 O ...

, 0.32% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 0.96% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 34.4% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, 21.8% Norwegian and 5.3% Irish ancestry. There were 17,851 households, out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.90% 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 ...

living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.80% were non-families. 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.30% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 23.40% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.00 males. In 2017, there were 504 births, giving a general fertility rate of 70.6 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 15th highest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Additionally, there were fewer than five reported induced abortions performed on women of Barron 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

* Barron (county seat) * Chetek *

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

* Rice Lake

Villages

* Almena *

Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 1 ...

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

* Haugen * New Auburn (mostly in Chippewa County) * Prairie Farm * Turtle Lake (partly in Polk County)

Towns

* Almena * Arland * Barron * Bear Lake * Cedar Lake * Chetek * Clinton *

Crystal Lake Crystal Lake or Crystal Lakes may refer to: Lakes Canada * Crystal Lake (Saskatchewan) * Crystal Lake (Ontario), drain into the Lynn River, which drains into Lake Erie United States * Crystal Lake, California, a mountain lake in Nevada Co ...

* Dovre *

Doyle Doyle is a surname of Irish origin. The name is a back-formation from O'Doyle, which is an Anglicisation of the Irish (), meaning "descendant of ''Dubhghall''". There is another possible etymology: the Anglo-Norman surname ''D'Oyley'' with agglu ...

* Lakeland * Maple Grove * Maple Plain * Oak Grove * Prairie Farm *

Prairie Lake A prairie lake is a somewhat shallow lake that will empty naturally during dry seasons, allowing a variety of terrestrial plants to flourish upon the rich nutrients in the exposed lakebed, and the lakes eventually refill with water returning to t ...

* Rice Lake * Sioux Creek * Stanfold * Stanley * Sumner * Turtle Lake * Vance Creek

Census-designated place

* Barronett

Unincorporated communities

* Angus * Arland * Brill * Campia *

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

* Comstock * Dobie * Graytown (part) * Hillsdale * Horseman * Lehigh * Mikana * Poskin * Reeve * Sumner * Twin Town * Tuscobia * Wickware

Politics

References

External links

Barron County website

Barron County map
from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation {{Coord, 45.42, -91.85, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-WI_source:UScensus1990 1874 establishments in Wisconsin Populated places established in 1874