Bayfield County, Wisconsin

Founding: 1850 (declared in 1845)
Parent county: St. Croix
Namesake: Henry Bayfield, British naval officer
Seat: La Pointe (1850–1858); Bayfield (1858–1892); Washburn (1892–)
Land area: 1,478 square miles
Population (2020): 16,220
Population (historic): 489 (1850); 344 (1870); 7,390 (1890); 15,987 (1910); 15,006 (1930)
Periods of population growth: pre-1850; 1870–1920; 1930s; 1970–2020
Subdivisions: Two cities; one village; seven CDPs; 25 towns
National Register listings: 28
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,956 (14.8%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 53.1%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 2.5%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 13.5%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 9.4%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $903
Average outbuilding value (1930): $825

Average farmhouse size (1940): 4.6 rooms

Number of farms (1920): 1,791
Average farm size (1920): 28.1 acres
Sources of settlement: Wisconsin, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and Finland
_________________________________________________________________________________
 

Washburn

 
Namesake: Cadwallader Washburn, Wisconsin governor
Founding: 1883 (platting); 1883 (post office); 1904 (incorporation)
Population (2020): 2,051
Population (historic): 3,039 (1890); 3,830 (1910); 2,238 (1930)
Periods of population growth: 1880s; 1930s; 1960–1990
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 301 (30.5%)
_________________________________________________________________________________

View and filter the data. Or see a larger map.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Outstanding Buildings

1. *Pillar House / Robinson Pike House (1895). 83645 State Route 13. Bayfield. Shingle.
2. *Bayfield Fish Hatchery (1897). 83645 State Route 13. Bayfield. Shingle.