Wabeno (CDP), Wisconsin Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Wabeno, Wisconsin
Census-designated place
Looking north at downtown Wabeno
Wabeno (CDP), Wisconsin Location in Wisconsin
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Forest
Area
• Total	2.421 sq mi (6.27 km²)
• Land	2.421 sq mi (6.27 km²)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km²)
Elevation	1,539 ft (469 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	575
• Density	237.51/sq mi (91.70/km²)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)	715 & 534
GNIS feature ID	1580716

Wabeno is a small community in Forest County, Wisconsin, USA. It's a special kind of place called a "census-designated place." This means it's a community that the government counts for population, but it's not officially a city or town.

Wabeno is located within the larger town of Wabeno. It sits on Wisconsin Highway 32 and is where Wisconsin Highway 52 ends. The community is also part of the beautiful Nicolet National Forest. In 2010, about 575 people lived here.

Wabeno skyline

History of Wabeno
Fun Things to Do in Wabeno
- Local Attractions
- Annual Events
Images for kids
See also

History of Wabeno

The area where Wabeno is now was once covered in trees. But in June 1880, a big tornado cleared many of them away. This opened up the land for people to settle.

Wabeno was officially planned out in 1897. The town's name comes from the Potawatomi word "waubeno." This word means "coming of the winds," which makes sense because of the tornado that cleared the land.

For a short time, Wabeno had a big "lumber boom." This happened when the Chicago and North Western Railway built a train line through the town. In 1905, there were five sawmills in Wabeno. These mills produced a huge amount of wood, about 35 million board feet each year! However, the last sawmill closed in 1936.

Fun Things to Do in Wabeno

Wabeno has some cool places to visit and fun events throughout the year.

Local Attractions

Just 4 miles (6.4 km) from Wabeno, you can find Northern Lights Bingo and Casino. The Forest County Potawatomi tribe runs this place. For much of the year, you can even get there from Wabeno by snowmobile or ATV!

The Wabeno area is famous for its Lumberjack Memorial Snowmobile Trails. This is a huge system with over 100 miles (160 km) of trails. They are well-kept and perfect for snowmobiling.

Other interesting spots in Wabeno include:

An old-fashioned band shell in the downtown park.
A logging museum, where you can learn about the history of cutting down trees.
A rare, working steam-powered Phoenix log hauler. This machine used to pull logs!
A 20-foot (6.1 m) tall fiberglass statue of Larry the Logroller.
A Sherman tank from World War II.
A log cabin from the 1800s that is still used as the Wabeno Public Library today.

Annual Events

Wabeno hosts several exciting events every year:

A Memorial Day truck pull.
Steam-up Days in July, which celebrates old machines and technology.
The Logging Exposition and Harvest Festival on Labor Day weekend.
Spring and fall dual sport motorcycle events, hosted by the Wisconsin Dual Sport Riders.

Did you know that Wabeno's tap water was chosen as the best-tasting water in Wisconsin in 2003? Because of this, the town even bottles its water and sells it as "Wabeno Water."