page_title: Wausau, Wisconsin
section_title: Twentieth century
hierarchical_section_title: Wausau, Wisconsin / History / Twentieth century
caption_attribution_description: English: The Grand Theater on ARTSblock, downtown Wausau, Wisconsin, USA.
context_page_description: Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city into east and west. The city's suburbs include Schofield, Weston, Maine, Rib Mountain, Kronenwetter, and Rothschild.
  As of the 2010 census, Wausau had a population of 39,106. It is the core city of the Wausau Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marathon County and had a population of 134,063 at the 2010 census.
context_section_description: Wausau's favorable location on the Wisconsin River was partly responsible for its survival. The economy was diversified in the early 20th century, led by Employers Insurance of Wausau, now a part of Liberty Mutual. Its logo, first introduced in 1954, was the downtown Milwaukee Road railroad depot set against the backdrop of the community's skyline.
  The Wall Street Crash of 1929 had a major effect on the Wausau area. Many industries were forced to cut back by laying off and dismissing workers or by closing altogether. After decades of growth, the city virtually ground to a halt. But under the New Deal, Wausau was significantly modernized. After World War II, it continued to grow in industry, education, recreation, and retail, more than in population.
  After the fall of Saigon, Hmong refugees from Southeast Asia who fought alongside the CIA immigrated to Wausau at the end of the 1970s. Wausau church organizations (Catholic and Lutheran) helped Hmong refugees adapt to American life.
  In 1983, the Wausau Center shopping mall opened. By the mid- to late 1990s, the Wausau began to purchase and develop parts of West Industrial Park to meet the needs of the expanding economy and companies. In the late 1990s, the city demolished a number of aging buildings on a square in the center of downtown, creating what is known locally as the 400 Block, an open, grassy block with paved sidewalks crossing it. The square is a focal point for summer festivals. In recent years Wausau has redone the 400 Block, adding a permanent stage and other renovations that cost $2 million.
caption: The Grand Theater, built in 1927, replaced the Grand Opera House (1899).
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-FX35", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2009:07:17 10:55:59", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D2": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Image ExifOffset": "508", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1090", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10552", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Landscape Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:06:20 12:05:57", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:06:20 12:05:57", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "22/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3648", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2736", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "25", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}