Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The city of “Clear Water” is the largest community in northern Wisconsin and lies at a stra-
tegic point in the Chippewa River Valley. Busy and pretty, the population is bigger (56,000
and change) than Wisconsinites realize.
Timber opportunists came snooping, here as everywhere, as early as 1822. In total, Eau
Claire would process 46 million board feet of lumber, which explains its nickname, “Saw-
dust City.”
Eau Claire went through the usual lumber boomtown throes—a saloon for every five
residents, internecine timber squabbles, and violent flare-ups. Eau Claire's powers-that-be
had the forethought to harness the local rapids for hydroelectricity, one reason it would
eventually eclipse Chippewa Falls up the river when the timber vanished.
