A number of Wisconsin counties are named after presidents and I thought it would be interesting to make a list of them all:
- Adams County is named after John Quincy Adams. He was our 6th president and served from 1825 to 1829.
- Jackson County is named for Andrew Jackson, who served two terms as president from 1829 to 1837.
- Jefferson County is named for Thomas Jefferson the 3rd president of the United States. He served two terms beginning in 1801 and ending in 1809.
- Lincoln County is named for Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president. He was president from 1861 until his assassination in 1865.
- Monroe County is named for James Monroe who was our 5th president. He served two terms; from 1817 to 1825.
- Pierce County is named after Franklin Pierce, our 14th president. He served a single term from 1853 to 1857.
- Polk County is named for James Polk. He was the 11th president and served a single term from 1845 to 1849. Wisconsin became a state during Polk’s time as president.
- Washington County is named after George Washington who was our 1st president. He served two terms from 1789 to 1797. Vernon County is named after Washington’s Mount Vernon estate.
There are two additional counties that have presidential names, but were not named after presidents:
- Grant County is not named after President Ulysses S. Grant. The county was created in 1836 when the future president was 14 years old. Grant County was apparently named for a trader named Grant who lived in the area around 1810.
- Taylor County is not named for President Zachary Taylor. The county was actually named for William Robert Taylor who was governor of Wisconsin from 1874 to 1876.
