Washburn, Wisconsin
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1942 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Washburn City. It lies in ZIP code area 54891. It stands on Thompson Creek. The Survey maps it on the Washburn quadrangle. 2,051 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 692 feet above sea level.
On record in Washburn
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 4 records
Bank of Washburnlisted 1980
Bayfield County Courthouselisted 1975
East Third Street Residential Historic Districtlisted 2014
Washburn Public Librarylisted 1984
Population over time
3 figuresWashburn fell from 3,039 to 2,051 between 1890 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 3,039 | |
| 2010 | 2,117 | |
| 2020 | 2,051 | -66 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 11 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.
- 1942 USGS Ashland quadrangle1:48000
- 1947 USGS Ashland quadrangle1:48000
- 1953 USGS Ashland quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Ashland quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Ashland quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1964 USGS Washburn quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Ashland quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
47 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 47 fires within 5 miles of Washburn between 1992 and 2019, burning about 46 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 1 was 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 | 14 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 28 August 2000 | Natural | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 August 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | TEZNER'S FIRE |
| 3 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 24 July 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | BIG ROCK FIRE |
| 19 July 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 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
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Washburn: 5 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Flagstone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayview Sandstone Quarry | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Bayfield County Gravel Pit #1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Bayfield County Gravel Pit #2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Crooked Lake Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Dan Maxcy Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Town of Bayview Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
27 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Washburn in 27 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 14 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. 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 2016 | Flash Flood | Washburn | $1,000 | There was flash flooding in Washburn with backups from storm drains in town. There were several inches of water on roadways. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | Nevers Road reported impassable with photos of trees completely blocking the road. Several trees were also damaged at corner of Nevers Road and Highway 13. |
| March 2025 | Hail | Washburn | - | Hail accumulated to a depth of 1 inch. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | A tree fell on a powerline bringing the powerline down and across a road. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | Several trees were down onto the roadway. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | Trees were down along Lakeshore Drive. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | A few trees were uprooted by the wind. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | Multiple trees were reported down in Washburn with photos received as well. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | There were 8 to 9 diameter trees down and the power was out. There were other trees damaged. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | A large tree was blown down. Report forwarded by the media. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | Large tree limbs downed. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | Trees were blown down. |
| September 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | Many trees and large limbs were blown down. Hail of undetermined size damaged vehicles and knocked out windows. |
| March 2025 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| March 2025 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| March 2025 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| March 2025 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| March 2025 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| March 2025 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Washburn | - | no account filed |
| September 1996 | Hail | Washburn | - | 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.
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 Washburn | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q405500 | 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 1576230. 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.






