Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
Wood County Courthouse | |
Location of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin | |
| Coordinates: 44°23′0.87″N 89°49′2.45″W / 44.3835750°N 89.8173472°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Wood |
| Founded | 1900 |
| Incorporated | April 6, 1868 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Matt Zacher |
| Area | |
| 14.795 sq mi (38.319 km2) | |
| • Land | 13.902 sq mi (36.005 km2) |
| • Water | 0.893 sq mi (2.314 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,027 ft (313 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| 18,877 | |
• Estimate (2023) | 18,670 |
| • Density | 1,343.69/sq mi (518.81/km2) |
| • Urban | 29,550 |
| • Metro | 73,939 |
| Time zone | UTC–6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC–5 (CDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 54494, 54495 |
| Area code(s) | 715 and 534 |
| FIPS code | 55-88200 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1576906 |
| Website | wirapids.org |
Wisconsin Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Wisconsin River. The population was 18,877 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Marshfield–Wisconsin Rapids micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Wood County and had a population of 74,207 in 2020.
The city was established in the late 1830s as the series of rapids along the Wisconsin River provided good sites for water-driven sawmills, and nearby forests held pine lumber to be sawed and floated down the river. After the lumber dwindled, the waterpower drove electric generators and various other enterprises–particularly paper mills.