Rice Lake, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
 North side of Rice Lake | |
.png) Seal | |
| Motto: You'll love our friendly nature | |
 Location of Rice Lake in Barron County, Wisconsin | |
  Rice Lake Location within Wisconsin Show map of Wisconsin Rice Lake Location within the United States Show map of the United States Rice Lake Rice Lake (North America) Show map of North America | |
| Coordinates:45°29′54″N91°44′20″W / 45.49833°N 91.73889°W /45.49833; -91.73889 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Wisconsin |
| County | Barron |
| Incorporated | April 1, 1887 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Harlan Dodge
|
| Area | |
• Total | 9.75 sq mi (25.25 km2) |
| • Land | 8.64 sq mi (22.37 km2) |
| • Water | 1.11 sq mi (2.88 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,135 ft (346 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 9,040 |
| • Density | 1,050/sq mi (404/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP Code | 54868 |
| Area codes | 715 & 534 |
| FIPS code | 55-67350[4] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1584019[2] |
| Website | www.ci.rice-lake.wi.us |
Rice Lake is acity inBarron County in northwesternWisconsin, United States, on the shore ofthe lake with the same name. The city is a commercial and tourist center for the surrounding rural areas.[6] As of the 2020 census, the city had a totalpopulation of 9,040. The city is located mostly within theTown of Rice Lake.
.JPG)
American Indians lived around Rice Lake for millennia, some of whom made mounds like those that remain in Indian Mounds Park along the shore of the lake.[7] In later years before white settlers,Ojibwe (Chippewa) people occupied the area, and they had a strong cultural attachment to thewild rice that grew on the lake.[8]
In the mid-1860sKnapp, Stout & Co., the growing lumber company downstream atMenomonie, bought tracts of forest around Rice Lake.[6][9] Around 1868 the company started a logging camp in the area[10] and in 1870 the company dammed theRed Cedar to raise the level of Rice Lake to make a better holding pond for their logs. The higher water disrupted the existing wild rice beds, angering the Ojibwe. As compensation, Knapp-Stout gave them food, but it was settlers' food like pork and flour - not wild rice.[6]
Knapp-Stout platted the village in 1870, naming it for the lake, and naming many streets after officers of the company, including Knapp, Stout, Tainter andWilson. The company built a small water-powered sawmill for sawing local lumber and agristmill. Permanent settlers began arriving about that time. The first houses were built around 1874. Saloons and hotels followed.[10] Rice Lake's first school opened in a Knapp-Stout building in 1874. Regular mail service began that year, with the mail arriving by stage from Menomonie andChippewa Falls, initially once a week. The first newspaper, theChronotype, started the same year.[11]
Many employees of the early Knapp-Stout wereNorwegian and in 1875 a NorwegianLutheran congregation was organized. A local brewery was also started in 1875.Episcopalian families began worshiping intermittently in 1879.Roman Catholics began meeting the following year, building a church the same year - the first brick building in the village. Knapp-Stout added a flour mill in 1879. AMethodist Episcopal congregation also formed in 1880, and aPresbyterian congregation in 1882.[10]
In 1882 the first railroad reached Rice Lake - theChippewa Falls and Northern Railroad,[10] and the four-year high school was started.[11] The following year the first bank opened - the Barron County Bank. A barrel factory opened in 1885, employing 40 men, and ahub and spoke factory in 1886, employing 50 in summer and 125 during logging season. In 1887 the Rice Lake Lumber Company opened, owned byOrrin Henry Ingram ofEau Claire. It expanded Knapp-Stout's sawmill, added twoplaning mills, and employed 200.[10]
Rice Lake incorporated as a city in 1887. A volunteer fire department was formed in 1889, which was equipped with a hook and ladder wagon, a hand hose cart, and 1,300 feet of hose. The city's population was 2,130 in the 1890 census.[10] A city library opened in 1897. The lumber companies set up electric lights and a water utility in 1892, which were taken over by the city in 1910.[11]
In 1907 the Barron County Normal School opened. In 1938WJMC, the area's first radio station, began broadcasting. In 1940 the forerunner ofIndianhead Tech College was established. In 1966UW-Stout opened a branch campus in Barron County, which has since developed intoUW-Eau Claire - Barron County.[11]
Rice Lake is located at45°29′54″N91°44′20″W / 45.49833°N 91.73889°W /45.49833; -91.73889 (45.498408, -91.738844).[12]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.70 square miles (25.12 km2), of which 8.60 square miles (22.27 km2) is land and 1.10 square miles (2.85 km2) is water.[13]
Rice Lake is along theRed Cedar River.
| Climate data for Rice Lake, Wisconsin, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1982–2022 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 50 (10) | 56 (13) | 80 (27) | 88 (31) | 94 (34) | 98 (37) | 100 (38) | 101 (38) | 92 (33) | 85 (29) | 73 (23) | 60 (16) | 101 (38) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 39.2 (4.0) | 45.4 (7.4) | 60.6 (15.9) | 75.9 (24.4) | 84.8 (29.3) | 89.6 (32.0) | 90.8 (32.7) | 90.0 (32.2) | 85.7 (29.8) | 76.6 (24.8) | 59.6 (15.3) | 43.9 (6.6) | 93.1 (33.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 21.6 (−5.8) | 27.2 (−2.7) | 39.6 (4.2) | 54.3 (12.4) | 67.8 (19.9) | 77.3 (25.2) | 81.4 (27.4) | 79.5 (26.4) | 71.4 (21.9) | 56.8 (13.8) | 40.4 (4.7) | 27.1 (−2.7) | 53.7 (12.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 11.6 (−11.3) | 16.0 (−8.9) | 28.9 (−1.7) | 43.0 (6.1) | 56.2 (13.4) | 66.0 (18.9) | 70.1 (21.2) | 67.9 (19.9) | 59.6 (15.3) | 46.1 (7.8) | 31.7 (−0.2) | 18.5 (−7.5) | 43.0 (6.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 1.7 (−16.8) | 4.8 (−15.1) | 18.1 (−7.7) | 31.6 (−0.2) | 44.7 (7.1) | 54.7 (12.6) | 58.8 (14.9) | 56.3 (13.5) | 47.8 (8.8) | 35.3 (1.8) | 22.9 (−5.1) | 10.0 (−12.2) | 32.2 (0.1) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −21.4 (−29.7) | −17.7 (−27.6) | −6.1 (−21.2) | 16.5 (−8.6) | 29.9 (−1.2) | 40.1 (4.5) | 48.1 (8.9) | 45.1 (7.3) | 33.0 (0.6) | 21.4 (−5.9) | 5.5 (−14.7) | −14.2 (−25.7) | −23.9 (−31.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −38 (−39) | −37 (−38) | −26 (−32) | −2 (−19) | 20 (−7) | 32 (0) | 41 (5) | 34 (1) | 26 (−3) | 11 (−12) | −17 (−27) | −40 (−40) | −40 (−40) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 0.89 (23) | 0.82 (21) | 1.47 (37) | 2.77 (70) | 3.85 (98) | 4.17 (106) | 3.98 (101) | 4.21 (107) | 3.34 (85) | 3.03 (77) | 1.68 (43) | 1.22 (31) | 31.43 (799) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 10.5 (27) | 10.7 (27) | 8.9 (23) | 3.5 (8.9) | 0.5 (1.3) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.8 (2.0) | 5.7 (14) | 11.9 (30) | 52.5 (133.2) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 7.6 | 5.9 | 7.1 | 10.1 | 12.0 | 12.4 | 10.7 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 9.8 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 111.3 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 6.8 | 5.4 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 6.4 | 27.0 |
| Source 1: NOAA[14] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service[15] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 362 | — | |
| 1890 | 2,130 | 488.4% | |
| 1900 | 3,002 | 40.9% | |
| 1910 | 3,968 | 32.2% | |
| 1920 | 4,457 | 12.3% | |
| 1930 | 5,177 | 16.2% | |
| 1940 | 5,719 | 10.5% | |
| 1950 | 6,898 | 20.6% | |
| 1960 | 7,303 | 5.9% | |
| 1970 | 7,278 | −0.3% | |
| 1980 | 7,691 | 5.7% | |
| 1990 | 7,998 | 4.0% | |
| 2000 | 8,320 | 4.0% | |
| 2010 | 8,438 | 1.4% | |
| 2019 (est.) | 8,509 | [5] | 0.8% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[16] | |||
As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $34,637, and the median income for a family was $53,056. Males had a median income of $40,450 versus $30,211 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $22,354. About 6.9% of families and 13.3% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 13.4% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.
As of thecensus[3] of 2010, there were 8,438 people, 3,936 households, and 2,065 families residing in the city. Thepopulation density was 981.2 inhabitants per square mile (378.8/km2). There were 4,239 housing units at an average density of 492.9 units per square mile (190.3 units/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 96.2%White, 0.3%African American, 0.9%Native American, 0.8%Asian, 0.5% fromother races, and 1.3% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino people of any race were 2.4% of the population.
There were 3,936 households, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% weremarried couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.5% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.79.
The median age in the city was 41.2 years. 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.5% were from 45 to 64; and 21.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.8% male and 53.2% female.
U.S. Highway 53,Wisconsin Highway 48, County Road SS (Main Street), and County Road O (South Access Road) are the main routes in the city.
The area is served byRice Lake Regional Airport - Carl's Field (KRPD), which is located south of Rice Lake.
Rice Lake formerly had passenger rail service at theRice Lake station.
The town spends $325,000 annually on infrastructure.[17]
Rice Lake Area School District operates public schools:
Rice Lake serves as a shopping, industrial, educational, and medical hub for the surrounding rural communities ofBarron,Cameron,Chetek,Shell Lake,Cumberland,Spooner, andLadysmith.
The annual city budget is $915,000.[17] The largest source of revenue for the city is property taxes, with $430,000 of income. The largest expenditure of the city is infrastructure, the town budget for which was $325,000 in 2022.[17]
Rice Lake has twosister cities:[20]
Municipalities and communities ofBarron County, Wisconsin,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| Villages | ||
| Towns | ||
| CDP | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Indian reservations | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
