In the mid-1800s, John Knapp purchased many, many acres of forest land that later became a part of the property that was later owned by the largest lumber company in the world: Knapp, Stout & Company. The firm owned 115,000 acres and produced 90 million feet of cut lumber annually by 1880. This land was originally inhabited by the Chippewa and other Native American groups who literally lived off the land by trapping local animal species, fishing, and harvesting the plentiful wild rice in the lakes and bogs.

Then, around 1870, Knapp, Stout & Co. dammed the Cedar River, creating a lake. In 1870, 1875 and 1884 the company platted the village, which is today the City of Rice Lake. The local newspaper, known today as The Chronotype, began printing on September 8, 1874; the same year, the first school here in Rice Lake, opened.

Rice Lake is well known for its surrounding, vast expanse of trail networks – they are perfect for skiing, hiking, biking, and snowmobiling. And of course the lake here is not only beautiful and serene, it is also home to an incredible variety of fish, supporting everything from panfish, crappie, smallmouth and largemouth bass, to northern pike and record class musky.

But don’t take our word for it, come to Rice Lake, Wisconsin, Where You Can find the Very Best of Everything the Northwoods Has to Offer… and a whole lot more!  (Read more “Northwoods & Some History of Rice Lake” in the Get North! blog)