Richland Center, Wisconsin

Richland Center is a city in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat of Richland County. As of the 2020 census, 5,114 people lived there. History Richland Center was founded in 1851 by Ira Sherwin Hazeltine. Haseltine offered to give land to the county if Richland Center was voted the county seat. In 1852, the Wisconsin Legislature named Richland Center as the seat for Richland County. The Richland County courthouse was built in 1889. In 1876, a railroad branch opened to connect Richland Center with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Lone Rock, Wisconsin. This gave an outlet for the town's commerce. On October 8, 1882, the town's railway depot was destroyed when a fire lit two kegs of gunpowder inside it. This caused an explosion that tore the roof from the building. Another depot was built in 1909. Today, it is a visitor center for the community. Frank Lloyd Wright was born at Richland Center in 1867. Geography The city has a total area of 4.77 square miles (12.35 km2). Of this, 4.69 square miles (12.15 km2) is land and 0.08 square miles (0.21 km2) is water. Notable people Svetlana Alliluyeva, only daughter of Joseph Stalin Lynda Barry, cartoonist Bradie Ewing, NFL Football player Joshua L. Johns, U.S. Representative Gilbert L. Laws, U.S. Representative Vernon Wallace Thomson, Governor of Wisconsin Frank Lloyd Wright, architect Raymond Leo Burke, cardinal References Other websites City of Richland Center Richland Center Chamber of Commerce University of Wisconsin - Richland Archived 2019-06-09 at the Wayback Machine Brewer Public Library Archived 2013-02-15 at the Wayback Machine Richland Electric Cooperative