Marathon

Formed January 1, 1850 (31^st county)

Marathon County (138,007), Wausau (40,017)

The Modern concrete and glass building was completed in 1955.  The facility is at the intersection of Forest and 5^th streets.  Forest Street is United States Highway 51 in the town.  Childs & Smith are the architects.  The building was enlarged in 1988.  It features veteran memorials on the grounds.  There was a classic 1892 courthouse previously.  The county was created on January 1, 1850 from Portage County as the 31^st county with Wausau as the only county seat.  It is named for the Greek battlefield.  Wausau was named for the Native American word meaning “far away.” 

Marathon County government consists of a sheriff and 38 Supervisors.  Four Circuit Court Judges and Five Municipal Court Judges serve Marathon County.  The county is in the northern part of the state.  Madison, Wisconsin is southeast and Minneapolis, Minnesota is southwest of the county.  The county center is 13.1 miles Southwest of Wausau nearer Marathon City.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lincoln, Langlade, Shawano, Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Clark, and Taylor counties. 

The area of the county is 1545.0 square miles.  It is 1 out of 72 in the state.  It ranks 10 out of 72 in population in the state.  It has a density of 89.3 persons per square mile making it 23 out of 72 in the state.  Marathon County has 65.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 39 crosses through the county from north to south from Lincoln County to Portage County.  United States Highway 51 is joined with Interstate Highway 39 from Lincoln to Portage counties.  The county is a rectangle with the northwest corner cut away.  Wausau is located in the eastern third of the county.  Wausau is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.0% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced WA-SOE.  This county is in the Wausau Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Unity