Columbia County, Wisconsin

Founding: 1846
Parent county: Portage
Namesake: A reference to Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer
Seat: Wyocena (1847); Columbus (1848–1851); Portage (1851–)
Land area: 766 square miles
Population (2020): 58,490
Population (historic): 9,565 (1850); 28,802 (1870); 28,350 (1890); 31,129 (1910); 30,503 (1930)
Periods of population growth: pre-1850–1870; 1880–1910; 1920–2020
Subdivisions: Four cities; ten villages; one CDP; 21 towns
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 6,173 (23.2%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 75.1%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 10.9%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 7.3%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 4.1%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $1,936
Average outbuilding value (1930): $2,523

Average farmhouse size (1940): 7.4 rooms

Number of farms (1920): 3,320
Average farm size (1920): 90.9 acres
Sources of settlement: Germany, New York, England, Ireland, and Norway
_________________________________________________________________________________
 

Portage

 
Namesake: A portage between the Fox River and Wisconsin River
Founding: 1828 (founding as Fort Winnebago); 1833 (post office); 1849 (platting); 1854 (incorporation)
Population (2020): 10,581
Population (historic): 603 (1850); 3,945 (1870); 5,143 (1890); 5,440 (1910); 6,308 (1930)
Periods of population growth: pre-1850–1900; 1910–2020
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,107 (25.8%)
_________________________________________________________________________________

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

Outstanding Buildings

1. William Currie Farm (1883). 9250 Currie Road. Arlington. Italianate.
2. Andrew Mair Farm (c. 1875). 1782 Road Q. Arlington. Italianate.
3. George Robinson House (c. 1860). 959 Duborg Road. Columbus. Italianate.
4. Henry Morse Farm (c. 1870). 1700 Farnham Street. Columbus. Gothic Revival.
5. John Davis House (c. 1865). 1514 Cemetery Road. Courtland. Italianate.
6. Farm (c. 1905). 8082 North Street. Dekorra. Queen Anne/Classical Revival.
7. Indian Agency House / John Kinzie House (1832). 1490 Agency House Road. Fort Winnebago.
8. Fayette Foster Farm (c. 1905). 1901 State Route 16. Fountain Prairie. Queen Anne/Classical Revival.
9. Ira Ford Farm (c. 1875). 1597 Road A. Hampden. Italianate.
10. Job Mills Farm (c. 1875). 10486 State Route 60. Lodi. Gothic Revival.
11. Joel Scovell Farm (c. 1875). 6406 Road CS. Lowville. Italianate.
12. Joseph Holmes Farm (c. 1860). 1042 State Route 33. Randolph. Italianate. Razed.
13. Alonzo Smith House (1876). 8239 State Route 73. Randolph. Italianate.
14. David Langdon Farm (1867). 8909 Fenske Road. Scott. Gothic Revival.
15. Jesse Van Ness Farm (c. 1865). 12266 Road VJ. West Point. Gothic Revival.

_________________________________________________________________________________\