| Vilas County, Wisconsin | |
Location in the state of Wisconsin |
|
Wisconsin's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | April 12, 1893 |
|---|---|
| Named for | William Freeman Vilas |
| Seat | Eagle River |
| Largest city | Eagle River |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
1,018 sq mi (2,636 km²) 874 sq mi (2,263 km²) 144 sq mi (373 km²), 14.16% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
21,033 24/sq mi (9/km²) |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www.co.vilas.wi.us |
Vilas County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 21,033. Its county seat is Eagle River.[1]
Contents |
Vilas County was set off from Oneida County on April 12, 1893 and named for William Freeman Vilas.[2] The earliest inhabitants of Vilas County were members of the Chippewa band of Native Americans; the first recorded white settler was a man named Ashman who established a trading post in Lac du Flambeau in 1818.[3] In the 1850s a number of wagon roads and trails were constructed through Vilas County including the Ontonogan Mail Trail and a Military Road from Fort Howard to Fort Wilkins in Copper Harbor, Michigan.[3]
Vilas County's forests were extensively logged in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many dams were built throughout the county to assist loggers as they sent their timber downstream to the lumber and paper mills in the Wisconsin River valley.[3]
Governor Tommy Thompson was ordered by a federal court to mobilize hundreds of policemen to keep the peace in Vilas County in 1989 during the Wisconsin Walleye War. Vilas County residents massed in angry throngs to interfere with Native Americans who had gained recognition for their natural resource management jurisdiction off of a federal ethnic reservation, throwing rocks and trying to capsize boats from which families gathered their annual quota of fish.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,018 square miles (2,640 km2), of which 874 square miles (2,260 km2) is land and 144 square miles (370 km2) (14.16%) is water. There are 1,318 lakes in the county. Much of Vilas County is covered by the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest as well as extensive county forest lands. Vilas County waters drain to Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and the Mississippi River. The Wisconsin, Flambeau, and Presque Isle Rivers all find their headwaters in Vilas County.
| Gogebic County, Michigan | Iron County, Michigan | |||
| Iron County, Wisconsin | Forest County | |||
| Vilas County, Wisconsin | ||||
| Price County | Oneida County |
Although these two forests have been administratively combined into the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, it is important to note that the county contains portions of both original forests.
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1900 | 4,929 |
|
|
| 1910 | 6,019 | 22.1% | |
| 1920 | 5,649 | −6.1% | |
| 1930 | 7,294 | 29.1% | |
| 1940 | 8,894 | 21.9% | |
| 1950 | 9,363 | 5.3% | |
| 1960 | 9,332 | −0.3% | |
| 1970 | 10,958 | 17.4% | |
| 1980 | 16,535 | 50.9% | |
| 1990 | 17,707 | 7.1% | |
| 2000 | 21,033 | 18.8% | |
| 2010 | 21,430 | 1.9% | |
| WI Counties 1900-1990 | |||
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 21,033 people, 9,066 households, and 6,300 families residing in the county. The population density was 24 people per square mile (9/km²). There were 22,397 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile (10/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.69% White, 0.20% Black or African American, 9.08% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. 0.86% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 37.8% were of German, 7.9% Polish, 6.6% Irish and 5.3% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.9% spoke English, 1.3% Spanish and 1.2% German as their first language.
There were 9,066 households out of which 23.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.40% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.73.
In the county, the population was spread out with 20.70% under the age of 18, 5.00% from 18 to 24, 23.10% from 25 to 44, 28.50% from 45 to 64, and 22.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.80 males.
The economy in Vilas County is based on tourism centered around its high concentration of lakes and forests. Hunting and sport fishing are the backbones of the fall economy, and ice fishing and especially snowmobiling makes up the bulk of the economy in the wintertime. Logging, forestry, construction and government also account for important parts of the local economy.
| Gogebic County, Michigan | Iron County, Michigan | |||
| Iron County | ||||
| Vilas County, Wisconsin | ||||
| Price County | Oneida County | Forest County |
|
||||||||||||||||||||