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History · Rib Lake

12% of Rib Lake’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1910.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Rib Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rib Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rib Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rib Lake’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Rib Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rib Lake.

Read it all →

In 1881, J. J. Kennedy hauled sawmill machinery with oxen from the railroad at Chelsea to the bank of Rib Lake and built a sawmill called the Rib Lake Lumber Company. The next year a railroad spur was built to the mill from the Wisconsin Central Railway at Chelsea. The community was originally called Kennedy Mills. The original mill burned in about a year, (and possibly burned again in 1898) and was destroyed by another fire on July 23, 1914.

In 1891, Fayette Shaw started a tannery in Rib Lake, which used tannic acid from locally harvested hemlock bark to tan hides from as far away as South America to make leather. The tannery operated until 1923.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Rib Lake, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Rib Lake Village Hall2025Rib Lake Village HallRib Lake Volunteer Fire Department2014Rib Lake Volunteer Fire DepartmentRib Lake Public Library2014Rib Lake Public LibraryWIMap-doton-Rib Lake2005WIMap-doton-Rib LakeRib Lake Welcome Sign2004Rib Lake Welcome SignRib Lake Historic Marker2003Rib Lake Historic Marker
On the map

Rib Lake on the map, 1979 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rib Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Rib Lake on the 1979 USGS mapRib Lake on the 1980 USGS map1979Rib Lake sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rib Lake.

People over time

Rib Lake, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,180

Between 782 and 1,180 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rib Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rib Lake

Nobody well known was born in Rib Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Dennis MorganAmerican actor · b. 1908
J
Jeane DixonAmerican astrologer and psychic · b. 1904
Charles WinningerActor · b. 1884
Jay LeggettAmerican actor, improvisational comedian, produ… · b. 1963
Mike WebsterAmerican football player · b. 1952
Jack PerkinsActor · b. 1921
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Fawn Valley SchoolschoolMud Lake SchoolschoolRib River Schoolschool

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Greenwood1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCorningIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestboro1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpirit1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHillIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rib Lake’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.