Fairchild, Wisconsin
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1948 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Fairchild Village. It lies in ZIP code area 54741. The Survey maps it on the Fairchild quadrangle. 450 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,020 feet above sea level.
On record in Fairchild
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
California Wine and Liquor Storelisted 1982
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1948 USGS Fairchild quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS Fairchild quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Eau Claire quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Eau Claire quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Eau Claire quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Fairchild quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Marshfield quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
1,626 words on this townshipHistory of Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, Past and Present; Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1914 names this settlement in its chapter on Fairchild Village. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Tile village ol Fairchild is located in the exti-eme southeast corner of the county and township, and was settled in 1868, about the time when the then West Wisconsin railway was constructing its road-bed. The line was opened for traffic in 1870. The land was at this time covered with a low growth of bushes. One of the first settlers there was Mr. Van Auken. He built the first steam sawmill and sold it to another early settler, G. S. Graves, in 1870. It was twice burned down, the second time in 1874, and not rebuilt. The McKinney house, the first hotel, was erected in 1878, and operated by Samuel McKinney. The other hotel, the Fairchild house, was built by Nathaniel C. Foster in 1875.
Passage source: History of Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, Past and Present; Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1914.
One of the first structures erected here was the Methodist Episcopal church. This occurred in 1874. For several years previous to this time the itinerant preachers of this denomination had conducted services in this locality. It was included in the Fairchild and Ilumbird circuit. The Rev. John Holt was the first man who preached here. The meetings were held in a board shanty, the floor of which was so loose that it kept in motion while anyone walked on it. The settlers scattered around welcomed these teachers of God's word most heartily. The first regular pastor was the Rev. George Benham. This was in 1877. He had charge of this organization and the one at Humbird. His successors were the Revs. C. Barker, G. D. Brown, J. W. Wells, M. J. Robinson, R. Smith, William Gallaway, John Holt, D. Clingman, G. S. Perry, and N. R. Hiues. The church edifice was later removed to a new location and almost entirely rebuilt.
Passage source: History of Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, Past and Present; Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1914.
Fairchild is famous, not only for the history of its big sawmill, but for its Big Store, one of the biggest retail mercantile institutions in northern Wisconsin. After the big fire in 1895 the N. C. Foster Lumber Company planned to build a model store and the next spring began operations. The basement of the main store was made 100x115 feet and the warehouse annex 40x70 feet is made of solid brick. The entire inside finish is in hardwood and no detail of convenience or utility is omitted. A large skylight in the center of the main store furnishes ample light and on the east side are the offices and vaults.
Passage source: History of Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, Past and Present; Including an Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County, published 1914.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Fairchild Village - it names this place 7 more 7 times.
Fires near this place
112 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 112 fires within 5 miles of Fairchild between 1992 and 2020, burning about 78 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 7 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 38 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 18 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 7 |
| Other causes | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2013 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | BRANCH ROAD |
| 6 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 September 2001 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 September 2013 | Natural | 2.4 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | OAK FIRE |
| 3 August 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 August 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 August 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 August 2001 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Fairchild: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardwick Shale Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Lone Pine Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
11 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fairchild in 11 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 7 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairchild | $3,000 | Several large trees were blown down in Fairchild. |
| April 2025 | Tornado (EF1) | Fairchild | - | A short lived tornado moved mostly along County Road M. It took part of the roof off of an outbuilding at a farm. Some shingles were also torn off the roofs of several houses. Several hundred trees were broken before it dissipated just east of County Road H. The maximum estimated wind speed was 90 mph. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Fairchild | - | The spotter reported that the hail coated the ground. |
| December 2021 | Tornado (EF0) | Fairchild | - | Mainly tree damage. Some trees fell on sheds, houses and vehicles. Two sheds had their roofs partially removed. Time estimated from radar. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairchild | - | A large tree was blown down in Fairchild, Wisconsin. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Fairchild | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Fairchild | - | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Hail | Fairchild | - | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Hail | Fairchild | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Fairchild | - | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Hail | Fairchild | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hay Creek | 6.1 miles | 12 | |
| Augusta | 10.0 miles | 12 | |
| Rodell | 14.5 miles | 12 | |
| Wilson | 16.0 miles | 11 | |
| Hale Corner | 17.2 miles | 12 | |
| Ludington | 18.0 miles | 11 | |
| Foster | 18.7 miles | 12 | |
| Fall Creek | 20.1 miles | 14 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Fairchild | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1393096 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1564804. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.






