The Chippewa County courthouse on March 14, 2015
Chippewa County was created by the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature in 1845 from land which had been part of Crawford County. The new county was named after the Ojibwa nation of Native Americans, which were commonly referred to as the Chippewa tribe. There is a Chippewa River, similarly named after the Native American tribe which flows from Sawyer County to the Mississippi River, passing through Chippewa County. The city of Chippewa Falls is located at a falls on the river, which is, not surprisingly, how it got its name.
Chippewa Falls is the county seat and is also the home of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company (founded in 1867), which is now owned by a large brewing conglomerate. Chippewa Falls was originally a lumber town though its development was also driven by the railroad industry which reached nearby Eau Claire (the seat of Eau Claire County, though part of the city is in Chippewa County) in the 1870s. In the early 18th century a French explorer found a spring, which is the origin of Chippewa Spring Water which is located in Chippewa Falls. Chippewa Falls is also the hometown of Seymour Cray who is credited with being the “father of supercomputing.” I used several of the supercomputers that he designed in my thesis research in grad school and also as a post-doc.
The Chippewa County courthouse is located at 711 North Bridge Street in Chippewa Falls. The courthouse was built in 1951 and is on the western side of the Chippewa River. We visited on the afternoon of Saturday March 14, 2015. It was a beautiful afternoon; sunny but a little cool. We made our visit after attending the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers Association’s “First Tapping” of a maple tree in nearby Cadott.
I don’t really have a lot to say about Chippewa County. Our visit to Cadott and Chippewa Falls is the only time I’ve really spent in the county over the years. I’m sure I’ve driven through the county several times on my way to or from Eau Claire or the Twin Cities. It is a nice area, perhaps I’ll have to make a trip to visit the Leinenkugel brewery sometime soon!