Juneau County, Wisconsin

Juneau County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Mauston
Year Organized: 1856
Square Miles: 768

Court House:

220 East State Street
County Courthouse
Mauston, WI 53948-1398

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Juneau County named in honor of Solomon Juneau, an early French trader on the site of Milwaukee, and first mayor of that city. Born in 1793 in Canada, as a youth Juneau began trading at Mackinac. He went to Milwaukee in 1818, as an employee of Jacques Vieau. Juneau was the first postmaster of the town (1835), assisted in laying out the first plat of the city (his partner was Morgan L. Martin of Green Bay), and served as mayor after its incorporation (1846). In later life he removed to Dodge County, and died in 1856 at Shawano, while attending an Indian payment.

[Source: Kellogg, Louise Phelps. "Derivation of County Names" in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 1909, pages 219-231.]

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Iron County was created in 1893 from Ashland and Oneida Counties and is named after the iron deposits found in the area. Located in northwest Wisconsin, the area is 757.3 square miles with 494 lakes and rivers; Bear, Flambeau, Manitowish, Montreal, Potato, and Tyler Forks. Population in the year 2000 was 6,861. The county is seat is Hurley.

Present day Iron County is bordered on the east by Vilas County, , on the west by Ashland County, on the south by Price County, and to the north the Michigan state border, GogebicCounty, MI & Iron County MI

Juneau County (included with Adams)
From: Handbook of Wisconsin by S. Silas, 1855
pg. 46-48

By an act of the Legislature passed during the session of 1855, this county [Adams] is divided by the Wisconsin River, making the County of Juneau on the west side, subject to approval by the voters of the County in November. There is little doubt the County will be so divided.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 804 square miles (2,083 km²), of which, 768 square miles (1,988 km²) of it is land and 37 square miles (95 km²) of it (4.54%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Wood County - north
Adams County - east
Columbia County - southeast
Sauk County - south
Vernon County - southwest
Monroe County - west
Jackson County - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Armenia	town
- Camp Douglas	village	Incorporated Area
- Clearfield	town
- Cutler	town
- Elroy	city	Incorporated Area
- Finley	town
- Fountain	town
- Hustler	village	Incorporated Area
- Kildare	town
- Lemonweir	town
- Lindina	town
- Lyndon	town
- Lyndon Station	village	Incorporated Area
- Mauston (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Necedah	village	Incorporated Area
- New Lisbon	city	Incorporated Area
- Orange	town
- Seven Mile Creek	town
- Union Center	village	Incorporated Area
- Wonewoc	village	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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