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.

_________________________________________________________________________________