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Welcome to Washburn ...

The city of Washburn is located in Bayfield County<1> and is the County Seat for Bayfield County.



Google driving directions from your current location to Washburn


While we don't have a date for the founding of Washburn, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1883.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Washburn has a population of 2,055 people<2> (see below for details).

Washburn is 690 feet [210 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Washburn lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel east from Washburn, you will leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).

Area Codes for Washburn: 715 & 534<4>

The ZIP code for Washburn: 54891<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Washburn had an population of 2,055 people. This is a decrease of 2.93% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 9.87% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Washburn had a population of 2,117 people (or 14.11% of the total population of Bayfield County). This makes Washburn the county's most populous community.

The population of Washburn represents 0.04% of the total population of Wisconsin (which has 5,686,986 people), making it the state's 422nd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 2,117 people, the population of Washburn decreased 7.15% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 2,280 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Washburn.

Communities Also Named Washburn ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 18 communities that are also named Washburn - they are located in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas (2), Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina (2), North Dakota, Ontario, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Washburn.

Communities near Washburn ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Washburn.

  • Ashland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
    • Ashland is located in Ashland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,766 people
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to Ashland

      From Washburn to Ashland

  • Bayfield
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayfield
    • Bayfield is located in Bayfield County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to Bayfield

      From Washburn to Bayfield

  • Mason
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mason have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
    • Mason is located in Bayfield County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
  • La Pointe
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Pointe
    • La Pointe is located in Ashland County
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to La Pointe

      From Washburn to La Pointe

  • White River
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for White River. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White River
    • White River is located in Ashland County
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to White River

      From Washburn to White River

  • Odanah
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odanah
    • Odanah is located in Ashland County
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to Odanah

      From Washburn to Odanah

  • Moquah
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moquah
    • Moquah is located in Bayfield County
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to Moquah

      From Washburn to Moquah

  • Benoit
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benoit
    • Benoit is located in Bayfield County
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to Benoit

      From Washburn to Benoit

  • Marengo
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
    • Marengo is located in Ashland County
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to Marengo

      From Washburn to Marengo

  • High Bridge
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Bridge
    • High Bridge is located in Ashland County
    • Google driving directions:

      From your current location to High Bridge

      From Washburn to High Bridge

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Washburn. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Washburn.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Washburn. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Washburn.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Washburn. Our list includes 12 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Washburn.

Adding Washburn to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Washburn in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Washburn was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Washburn post office opened in 1883.

We also found Washburn in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Washburn.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Washburn. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Bayfield County: www.bayfieldcounty.org/

The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Wisconsin's counties, including Bayfield, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Washburn.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Washburn - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 715 code has been Overlayed with the 534 area code. New phone numbers in the Washburn area will be assigned with one of these codes: 715 or 534. As a result, placing a call in the Washburn area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Washburn). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Washburn or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Jan 2025