Eagle River, Wisconsin
| Eagle River, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Downtown Eagle River
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 Location of Eagle River, Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates: 45°55′12″N 89°15′1″W / 45.92000°N 89.25028°WCoordinates: 45°55′12″N 89°15′1″W / 45.92000°N 89.25028°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Vilas |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.20 sq mi (8.29 km2) |
| • Land | 3.03 sq mi (7.85 km2) |
| • Water | 0.17 sq mi (0.44 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,647 ft (502 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,398 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 1,373 |
| • Density | 461.4/sq mi (178.1/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Zip Code | 54521 |
| Area code(s) | 715 & 534 |
| FIPS code | 55-21625 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1579167 |
| Website | eagleriver |
Eagle River is a city in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,398 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Vilas County. Because of the many lakes in the area, the city is a popular vacation and retirement destination. The area contains many condominia, seasonal vacation homes, and hunting cabins.
Eagle River was the site of the first permanent Indian settlement in the Wisconsin Northwoods, located on the shores of Watersmeet Lake where the Wisconsin River and Chain 0' Lakes meet. These early Indians, who were called Old Copper Indians, were succeeded by the Woodland Indians from 2,600 B.C. to 800 A.D. These Indians were probably the ancestors of the Chippewa, Potawatomi, and Menominee.
The first recorded white settler in what became Vilas County was a man named Ashman who established a trading post in Lac du Flambeau in 1818. Eagle River's name was derived from the abundance of eagles nesting along the river. It is believed that Bethuel Draper and "Dutch Pete" Cramer camped in the area in 1853 and were responsible for naming the community. A settlement grew as other families settled in the area in 1857. The town of Eagle River was created by an act of the state legislature in 1885. Vilas County was set off from Oneida County on April 12, 1893 and named for William Freeman Vilas, a migrant from Vermont. Vilas had served for Wisconsin in the United States Senate from 1891 to 1897. In the 1850s migrants from New England, primarily from Vermont and Connecticut, constructed a number of wagon roads and trails through Vilas County including the Ontonogan Mail Trail and a Military Road from Fort Howard to Fort Wilkins in Copper Harbor, Michigan.
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