Wausau

History

This area has for millennia changed hands between various indigenous peoples. The Ojibwe (also known in the United States as the Chippewa) occupied it in the period of European encounter. They had a lucrative fur trade for decades with French colonists and French Canadians. After the French and Indian War this trade was dominated by British-American trappers from the eastern seaboard. The Wisconsin River first drew European-American settlers to the area during the mid-19th century as they migrated west into the Great Lakes region following construction of the Erie Canal in New York State. This provided a route for products from the region to the large New York and other eastern markets. The area had been called "Big Bull Flats" or "Big Bull Falls" by French explorers, who were the first Europeans here. They named it for the long rapids in the river, which created many bubbles, called bulle in French. By an 1836 treaty with the United States, the Ojibwe ceded much of their lands in the area to federal ownership. It was sold to non-Native peoples. Wausau, from Ojibwe “waasa”, means "a faraway place". He made extensive additions, adding two sunrooms, arcaded windows, a tiled porch in the Mediterranean style, a formal classical entrance, and ornate custom-designed chimney crowns. The home is on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Andrew Warren Historic District. When the railroad arrived in 1874, Wausau became more accessible to settlers and industry. This enabled the city to develop alternatives to the lumber industry, which was in decline since the clear-cutting of many forests. By 1906 the lumber was gone, but the city continued to grow and flourish. Other villages and towns in the area declined because of over-harvesting of the forests and lumber…

Geography

Wausau is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. The city is at an altitude of . Wausau is close to the center of the northern half of the Western Hemisphere. Just west of Wausau, 45°N meets 90°W (), which is exactly halfway between the equator and the north pole and a quarter of the way around the world from the prime meridian. Wausau's climate is classified as warm summer humid continental (Dfb). It is built on or around a hemiboreal forest, which has some of the characteristics of a boreal forest and shares some of the features of the temperate zone forests to the south. Coniferous trees predominate in the hemiboreal zone, but a significant number of deciduous species are found there, as well. ;Notes:

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,968
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  11,032
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  8,774
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,580
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,055
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  7,546
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  6,738
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  6,647

Largest nearby schools

• West High
  High · Wausau · 1,446 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• D C Everest High
  High · Weston · 1,311 students · 17.5:1 ratio
• John Muir Middle
  Middle · Wausau · 1,006 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• East High
  High · Wausau · 902 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• D C Everest Junior High
  Other · Weston · 872 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• D C Everest Middle
  Middle · Weston · 833 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• Horace Mann Middle
  Middle · Wausau · 683 students · 12.6:1 ratio
• G D Jones Elementary
  Elementary · Wausau · 539 students · 15.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2024-01-07
  3 km NE of Mole Lake, Wisconsin