Vilas County, Wisconsin
| Vilas County, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. 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 | 1,018 sq mi (2,637 km2) |
| • Land | 857 sq mi (2,220 km2) |
| • Water | 161 sq mi (417 km2), 16% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 21,430 |
| • Density | 25/sq mi (10/km²) |
| Congressional district | 7th |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www |
Vilas County is a county in the state of Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 21,430. Its county seat is Eagle River.
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.
In the 1850s migrants from New England, primarily from Vermont and Connecticut, constructed 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.
Vilas County was set off from Oneida County on April 12, 1893 and named for William Freeman Vilas. Originally from Vermont, Vilas represented Wisconsin in the United States Senate from 1891 to 1897.
Logging began in the late 1850s. Loggers came from Cortland County, New York, Carroll County, New Hampshire, Orange County, Vermont and Down East Maine in what is now Washington County, Maine and Hancock County, Maine. 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. After the county was founded in 1893 and logging ceased to be the primary industry in the area, migrants seeking other forms of employment settled in the county. These later immigrants primarily came from Germany, Ireland and Poland though some came from other parts of the United States.
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