BlockBefore

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.

Fairchild within Eau Claire County

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

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 printed sheets

Matched 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.

In the county-history sources

1,626 words on this township

History 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 1992

Regional 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 burning38
Missing data/not specified/undetermined23
Equipment and vehicle use18
Railroad operations and maintenance7
Arson/incendiarism7
Other causes6
Recreation and ceremony5
Natural2
Fireworks2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesBRANCH ROAD
6 September 1995Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 September 2001Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 September 2013Natural2.4 acresWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesOAK FIRE
3 August 1998Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 August 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 August 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 August 2001Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Eau Claire County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hardwick Shale QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Lone Pine PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Eau Claire County

Storms near this place

11 since 2009

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2021Thunderstorm WindFairchild$3,000Several large trees were blown down in Fairchild.
April 2025Tornado (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 2024HailFairchild-The spotter reported that the hail coated the ground.
December 2021Tornado (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 2013Thunderstorm WindFairchild-A large tree was blown down in Fairchild, Wisconsin.
May 2024HailFairchild-no account filed
August 2019HailFairchild-no account filed
June 2017HailFairchild-no account filed
June 2017HailFairchild-no account filed
May 2013HailFairchild-no account filed
April 2009HailFairchild-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Eau Claire County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Hay Creek6.1 miles12
Augusta10.0 miles12
Rodell14.5 miles12
Wilson16.0 miles11
Hale Corner17.2 miles12
Ludington18.0 miles11
Foster18.7 miles12
Fall Creek20.1 miles14

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 FairchildAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1393096The 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.