Superior | |
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City | |
Superior, Wisconsin | |
Downtown Superior.
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Location of the city of Superior in Douglas County, Wisconsin |
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Location of the city of Superior in Douglas County, Wisconsin |
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Coordinates: 46°42′24.77″N 92°5′6.92″W / 46.7068806°N 92.0852556°WCoordinates: 46°42′24.77″N 92°5′6.92″W / 46.7068806°N 92.0852556°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Wisconsin |
County | Douglas |
Incorporated | September 6, 1854 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Jim Paine |
Area | |
• Total | 55.65 sq mi (144.13 km2) |
• Land | 36.96 sq mi (95.73 km2) |
• Water | 18.69 sq mi (48.41 km2) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 27,244 |
• Estimate (2016) | 26,475 |
• Density | 737.1/sq mi (284.6/km2) |
Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP codes | 54880 |
Area code(s) | 715 and 534 |
FIPS code | 55-78650 |
Website | http://www.ci.superior.wi.us |
Superior is a city in, and the county seat of, Douglas County in the state of Wisconsin. The population was 27,244 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U.S. Highway 2 and U.S. Highway 53, it is immediately north of and adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior. Its neighborhoods include Billings Park, North End, South Superior, Central Park, East End, Allouez, and Itasca. Billings Park, South Superior, East End, and North End each have small business districts.
Superior is at the western end of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin. Bordered by Saint Louis, Superior, and Allouez bays, the city is framed by two rivers: the Nemadji and the Saint Louis. Superior and the neighboring city across the bay, Duluth, Minnesota, form a single metropolitan area called the Twin Ports. They share a harbor that is one of the most important ports on the Great Lakes. Both cities feature museum ships (SS William A Irvin in Duluth and SS Meteor in Superior) devoted to the local maritime heritage. Superior was the final port of call for the Edmund Fitzgerald before its sinking in 1975.
The first-known inhabitants of what is now Douglas County were Mound Builders. These people appeared on the shores of Lake Superior sometime after the latest glacier receded. They mined copper in the Minong Range and at Manitou Falls on the Black River. They pounded this metal into weapons, implements, and ornaments, some of which were later found buried as grave goods in mounds with their dead. Their civilization was eventually overrun by other tribes, mainly of Muskhogean and Iroquois stock, and they disappeared as a distinct culture in late prehistoric American times.