Menomonie, Wisconsin

The earliest known residents of the area were people from the Trempealeau Hopewell Culture of the Middle Woodland Period (100–400 CE).^[7] Evidence from their culture includes a mound from the Wakanda Mounds Group in Wakanda Park, along the western shore of Lake Menomin. Most of these mounds are thought to be from Effigy Mound cultures from this time period. Artifacts from the Late Woodland Period (400–1000 CE) have also been uncovered. It is theorized that agricultural villages supported the population during summer months, transitioning to hunting and gathering from fall through spring. The next known population group is the Santee Dakota in the 1600s and 1700s, who engaged in conflicts with the Ojibwe people, who migrated west as refugees. Armed with European weapons, the Ojibwe pushed westward, eventually winning at the Battle of Kathio in 1770. The two tribes continued their warfare, eventually signing the 1825 First Treaty of Prairie du Chien, which made a border between the two just north of Menomonie, with the Dakota claiming the southern lands.^[8]

In 1788, French-Canadian fur trader and schoolmaster Jean Baptiste Perrault established a trading post and fort on the Red Cedar River very near Menomonie.^[8][9]

The lumber industry brought Menomonie permanent settlement and economic prosperity in the 1800s. Hardin Perkins established the first sawmill at the confluence of Wilson Creek and the Red Cedar River in 1822 on behalf of fur traders James H. Lockwood and Joseph Rolette of Prairie du Chien. The mill was washed away by a sudden overflow in the river within a year. Working with Indian Agent General Street, Perkins, Lockwood and Rolette began a legal battle over the authority of the local Native American people to grant permissions of this sort, exchanging land for payment of blankets, beads, whiskey, and other merchandise to Dakota Chief Wapasha II and other Ojibwe chiefs. In 1830 the traders received permission from the federal government to rebuild their lumber operation. This was the first permanent settlement on the land that became the city of Menomonie.^[8][10]

Lockwood built a second mill and dam on the west side of the Red Cedar River, at the confluence of Gilbert Creek. He sold this to Hiram S. Allen, a lumberman from Vermont. In 1839, Allen built a new sawmill in its place, which he sold to the McCann brothers, settlers from Ohio who later became the first permanent residents of Eau Claire.^[11][12] In 1849, the Gilbert Creek Mill became the site of the first post office.^[13]

Lockwood and Rolette sold their original operation to James Green in 1841, who turned over the deed to William Black in 1842.^[13][14] In 1846, William Wilson and John Holly Knapp jointly purchased the mill, naming it Black & Knapp Mill. Wilson and his family settled in the area, eventually building what is now the Wilson Place Museum in 1859. Wilson founded the city of Menomonie and became its first mayor in 1882, as well as a Wisconsin State Senator.^[15]

Captain Andrew Tainter and Henry L. Stout acquired 1⁄3 interest in Wilson and Knapp's company, forming Knapp, Stout & Co. in 1853, the company that would come to define the town for generations. Tainter was a silent partner, whose duties included shipping lumber down to the Mississippi River and returning with supplies.^[16] By 1873, Knapp, Stout & Co. had become the world's largest lumber corporation. In 43 years, its output grew from 100,000 to 5,706,602 feet of lumber. It had 1,200 employees and owned 115,000 acres (47,000 ha) of pine forest.^[10] The post office was moved to the site of the Knapp, Stout & Co. Company in 1855, with Wilson as postmaster.^[17]

Menomonie was incorporated as a city in 1882.^[18]

The Mabel Tainter Memorial Building, a local landmark, was built in 1890 and dedicated on July 3, 1890, by Tainter in honor of his daughter Mabel, who had died in 1886 at the age of 19.^[8] In 1891, Wisconsin State Senator James Huff Stout, son of Henry L. Stout, founded a manual training school, the first of several educational enterprises he launched in Menomonie. These educational programs were combined into the Stout Institute in 1908, and still stand as the University of Wisconsin–Stout.^[19]

In 1901, the water mill shut down, and Knapp, Stout & Co. closed operations in the area. The Wisconsin Power Company and Submerged Electric Motor Co. acquired some of the company's facilities, the latter to house the world's first outboard motor factory. In 1902, the Wilson-Weber Lumber Company took over the retail operations of the Knapp, Stout & Co. That same year, Menomonie founded the nation's first agricultural high school, the Dunn County School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy.^[20]

The city sits on the boundary of the Central Plain and Western Upland topographies of the state's official geographic regions.^[21] Ecologically, it is located within the northern reaches of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Western Coulees and Ridges landscape.^[22] Native vegetation primarily consists of mixed hardwood forests with occasional pine stands, interspersed by oak savannas, while wetlands are common in riparian or low areas.^[23] Menomonie is physically located near the confluence of Wilson Creek with the Red Cedar River, a principal tributary of the Chippewa River which ultimately flows into the Mississippi River.^[24][25] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 15.47 square miles (40.07 km²), of which 13.69 square miles (35.46 km²) is land and 1.78 square miles (4.61 km²) is water.^[26] Menomonie is located at 44°52′45″N 91°55′5″W (44.879, −91.918).^[27]

Menomonie operates under a mayor–council government structure established by applicable state statutes.^[30] Serving as the city's executive, an at-large mayor is elected to a two-year term.^[31][32] Legislative authority is vested in an eleven-member Common Council, with each alderperson representing a specific designated ward for a two-year term.^[31][33] The council governs municipal policy through the adoption of ordinances and the annual budget. While an appointed city administrator oversees operation of various administrative departments.^[34][31] Core municipal services provided by the city include public safety, public works, a municipal court, and a public library.^[35][32][36]

As the county seat of Dunn County, Menomonie is the county's governmental center and is home to the county courthouse and jail facilities.^[37][38][39] At the federal level, the city is situated within Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district. Representation in the Wisconsin Legislature consists of Senate District 31 and Assembly District 92.^[40]

Menomonie schools are part of the Menomonie Area School District.

The city has one public high school, Menomonie High School, and one public middle school, Menomonie Middle School. There are four public elementary schools in the district: River Heights Elementary, Wakanda Elementary, Oaklawn Elementary, and Knapp Elementary.

Downsville Elementary was shut down after the completion of the 2024-2025 school year.^[64]

St. Paul's Lutheran School is a Christian Pre-K–8 school of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) in Menomonie.^[65]

The city is home to the University of Wisconsin–Stout. It also has a campus of Chippewa Valley Technical College, which provides adult education services and employee training for area businesses.^[66]

Menomonie is assigned to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul television market. Due to its geographic location, the city relies on the Eau Claire market for most over-the-air and local news coverage.^[67][68] The city is the community of license for WHWC-TV, which serves as the PBS Wisconsin affiliate for the region.^[69] It also hosts local NOAA Weather Radio station (WXJ88).^[70] The Fox affiliate for the area, WEUX, is technically licensed to Chippewa Falls, but maintains its transmitter in nearby Colfax in Dunn County.^[71] Radio stations licensed to the city include iHeartMedia outlets WMEQ-AM and WMEQ-FM.^[72] Wisconsin Public Radio also maintains two local stations WHWC-FM and WVSS as part of its statewide network.^[73]

Local telecommunications infrastructure is maintained by a mix of national and regional providers. Charter Communications (Spectrum) operates the local cable television franchise.^[74][75] TDS Telecom provides a competing FTTP network that was established during a market expansion into the region.^[76] West Wisconsin Telcom cooperative serves as the area's legacy incumbent local exchange carrier and provides fiber optic services to outlying parts of the city and surrounding portions of the local exchange.^[77]

The Dunn County News is the city's newspaper of record. This weekly publication was founded in 1856 and is owned by Lee Enterprises.^[78] In November 2024, the non-profit Menomonie News Net launched to provide expanded hyperlocal coverage.^[79] UW–Stout is served by the Stoutonia, a student-run campus newspaper established in 1915.^[80]

• The Mabel Tainter Theater^[104]
• Hoffman Hills State Recreation Area^[105]
• Red Cedar State Trail^[106]

• Caddie Woodlawn, a Newbery Award-winning novel, is based on the girlhood adventures of Caroline Augusta Woodhouse, who lived about 10 miles south of Menomonie. The novel is by Woodhouse's granddaughter, Carol Ryrie Brink, and was published in 1936. There is a historical marker in the wayside park near the Woodhouse house.^[107]
• The eighth episode of season 11 of the television show Supernatural takes place in Menomonie.^{[citation needed]}
• Holloway Roberts from Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves was born in Menomonie. He uses this fact as a mantra throughout his narrative.^{[citation needed]}

Menomonie has two sister city relationships:^[108]

• Nasukarasuyama, Japan
• Konakovo, Russia

• Kraft State Bank robbery