Three Lakes, Wisconsin
| Three Lakes | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 |
|
| Coordinates: 45°47′54″N 89°9′46″W / 45.79833°N 89.16278°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Oneida |
| Area | |
| • Total | 99.9 sq mi (258.7 km2) |
| • Land | 81.5 sq mi (211.1 km2) |
| • Water | 18.4 sq mi (47.6 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,624 ft (505 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,131 |
| • Density | 28.7/sq mi (11.1/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP Code | 54562 |
| Area code(s) | 715 & 534 |
| FIPS code | 55-79700 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1584277 |
| Website | http://www.townofthreelakes.com |
Three Lakes is a town in Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,339 at the 2000 census. The census-designated place of Three Lakes is located in the town. The unincorporated community of Clearwater Lake is also located in the town.
Three Lakes, Wisconsin was named for the three primary lakes in the area: Maple, Townline, and Range Line lakes. It formally became a town in 1881.
The early industry in the town was logging and forestry. Three Lakes and the rest of the Northwoods supplied wood to build Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. During that time, most of the area's virgin forests were cleared and it was only in the 1930s that the Civilian Conservation Corps began replanting them. As a result of these replanting efforts, logging and forestry continue to be an important industry in Three Lakes.
As the logging industry moved out of the area, many of the cleared areas were converted to potato farms and agriculture became the community’s primary industry through the early 1900s. However, over time these family potato farms were replaced by larger corporate commercial enterprises, which are no longer in production.
Three Lakes began growing as a tourist and summer vacation destination in the late 1930s. The increasing availability of automobiles, combined with the roads that existed from the logging industry, made the lakes and forests of the Three Lakes area an attractive vacation destination. Tourism was the primary industry in Three Lakes through the 1970s.
Although tourism remains an important industry to the area, the town also has light manufacturing, a winery, an arts center and numerous retail businesses that have diversified its economy. The town has made substantial investments in developing high speed Internet and broadband capabilities.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 99.9 square miles (258.7 km²), of which 81.5 square miles (211.1 km²) is land and 18.4 square miles (47.6 km²) (18.40%) is water. The Eagle River flows through the town in a series of lakes.
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