Burnett County was created by the Wisconsin legislature in 1856 from land taken from Polk and Douglas counties. The new county was named after Thomas Burnett who had been a member of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature and had also served in the first Wisconsin Constitutional Convention in 1846. The early history of Burnett County is kind of odd; it was unorganized until 1865. It was organized at that point and then it was deorganized in 1866. Eventually it was organized again in 1871. Along the way there were many border changes as the state legislature drew and re-drew the county lines. Burnett county’s current borders were established in 1883 after the creation of Washburn County.
For you trivia buffs, Burnett county is one of only three Wisconsin counties to have no incorporated cities. It is the only county to have villages but no cities.
The original county seat was Grantsburg and this is where the first two county courthouses were built. In the 1980s the county seat was moved to Siren. Siren was originally settled by Swedish immigrants in the 1880s, and the postmaster, Charles Segerstrom, named the settlement Syren which is the Swedish word for lilacs, which were abundant near his home. The Post Office obviously thought this was a misprint and substituted Siren on the application.
The Burnett County courthouse is located at 7410 County Road K in Siren. Well, technically the building is the Burnett County Government Center but that’s where the court is located.