Chili, Wisconsin

Chili is an unincorporated census-designated place in the Town of Fremont in Clark County, Wisconsin, United States. Chili is west-southwest of Marshfield. Chili has a post office with ZIP code 54420.[2] As of the 2010 census, its population was 226.[3]

Chili, Wisconsin
Census-designated place
Facing east on Chili Road toward downtown
Chili
Coordinates: 44°37′37″N 90°21′23″W
CountryUnited States
StateWisconsin
CountyClark
TownFremont
Area
 • Total1.301 sq mi (3.37 km2)
 • Land1.287 sq mi (3.33 km2)
 • Water0.014 sq mi (0.04 km2)
Elevation
1,234 ft (376 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total226
 • Density170/sq mi (67/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
54420
Area code(s)715 & 534
GNIS feature ID1563021[1]

History

Around the year 1880 the Chicago and North Western Railway built through this area in south-east Clark County to take care of local sawmills. There was a sawmill about a mile east of where the railroad had put in a siding called Cedarhurst. Another such sawmill was built at the present-day CDP of Chili, and grew to be a rather extensive operation. One blistering, cold day during the winter of 1881, the railroad officials came here for the purpose of choosing a name for the then-hamlet. It was so wintry cold they did not want to step out of the train, it was then that one of them is supposed to have said, "Let's call this stop Chili because it is really chilly here."[4] On another account, the community is also said to be named after the country Chile, in South America.[5]

A post office called Chili has been in operation since 1892.[6]

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Chili, Wisconsin
  2. ZIP Code Lookup Archived 2011-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "U.S. Census website". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  4. Gard, Robert E. (2015). The Romance of Wisconsin Place Names (2nd ed.). Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Society Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-87020-707-5.
  5. Chicago and North Western Railway Company (1908). A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways. p. 170.
  6. "Clark County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved 3 April 2015.


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