Richland Center, Wisconsin

Richland Center
City
Richland Center's historic downtown, viewed from Court and Main Street
Location of Richland Center in Richland County, Wisconsin
Richland Center Show map of Wisconsin Richland Center Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 43°20′16″N 90°23′5″W
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Richland
Area [1]
• Total	4.77 sq mi (12.41 km^2)
• Land	4.69 sq mi (12.14 km^2)
• Water	0.08 sq mi (0.22 km^2)
Elevation [2]	728 ft (222 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	5,114
• Density	1,091/sq mi (421.3/km^2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code	53581
Area code	608
FIPS code	55-67625[4]
GNIS feature ID	1578616[2]
Website	ci.richland-center.wi.us

Richland Center is a city in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat of Richland County. As of the 2020 census, 5,114 people lived there.^[3]

History

Richland Center was founded in 1851 by Ira Sherwin Hazeltine. Haseltine offered to give land to the county if Richland Center was voted the county seat.^[5] In 1852, the Wisconsin Legislature named Richland Center as the seat for Richland County.^[6] The Richland County courthouse was built in 1889.

In 1876, a railroad branch opened to connect Richland Center with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Lone Rock, Wisconsin. This gave an outlet for the town's commerce. On October 8, 1882, the town's railway depot was destroyed when a fire lit two kegs of gunpowder inside it. This caused an explosion that tore the roof from the building.^[7] Another depot was built in 1909. Today, it is a visitor center for the community.^[8]

Frank Lloyd Wright was born at Richland Center in 1867.

Geography

The city has a total area of 4.77 square miles (12.35 km²). Of this, 4.69 square miles (12.15 km²) is land and 0.08 square miles (0.21 km²) is water.^[1]

Notable people

• Svetlana Alliluyeva, only daughter of Joseph Stalin
• Lynda Barry, cartoonist
• Bradie Ewing, NFL Football player
• Joshua L. Johns, U.S. Representative
• Gilbert L. Laws, U.S. Representative
• Vernon Wallace Thomson, Governor of Wisconsin
• Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
• Raymond Leo Burke, cardinal

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
2. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
3. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2020 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Richland Center city, Wisconsin". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
4. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
5. Butterfield, C. W. (1884). History of Crawford and Richland Counties, Wisconsin. Springfield, Illinois: Union Publishing Company. pp. 1150-1151.
6. "An Act to Declare the County Seat of Richland County," Wisconsin Statutes 1852, c. 37.
7. Butterfield (1884). p. 1164
8. "Richland Center Visitor Center Archived 2011-11-03 at the Wayback Machine." Richland Chamber & Development Alliance. Retrieved 2011-11-03.

Other websites

• City of Richland Center
• Richland Center Chamber of Commerce
• University of Wisconsin - Richland Archived 2019-06-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Brewer Public Library Archived 2013-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
• Richland Electric Cooperative