Facts, Facts & More Facts

State Tree: Maple

State Bird: Robin

State Symbol of Peace: Mourning Dove

State Flower: Wood Violet

State Animal: Badger

State Capital: Madison

The length of Wisconsin is 300 miles.

The width of Wisconsin is 280 miles.

Our Great Outdoors

• Total number of lakes: 14,927

• Forest area: 14,478,00 acres

• Golf courses:400+

• There are 4,000 acres of cherry and apple trees in Door County
  combined to create the largest fruit orchards in Wisconsin.

• Practically all the natural lakes in Wisconsin have resulted
  from glaciers.

• There are 108,000 miles of roads in Wisconsin.

• Horicon Marsh-largest freshwater Cattail Marsh in the U.S.,
  covering more than 32,000 acres.

• Wisconsin has 500 different types of soils.

• Horicon Marsh-in 1991 dedicated as a wetland of international
  importance (number 9 of only 15 in the U.S.).

Food Facts

• Wisconsin is the number one cheese producer in the nation with
  over 2.5 billion pounds produced annually.

• Colby and Brick cheese are the only two cheeses that were first
  produced in Wisconsin.

• Wisconsin produces 2.1 million barrels of cranberries each year.

• Nearly 21 million gallons of ice cream are consumed by
  Wisconsinites each year.

• The first ice cream sundae was concocted in Two Rivers in 1881.

• Wisconsin is the leading producer of Ginseng in the U.S.

• Fish Boils are unique to Door County, Wisconsin.

• The first malted milk was made in Racine in 1883.

Water, Water Everywhere!

• There are 1,050 miles of Great Lakes and Mississippi shoreline.

• Door County has more shoreline than any other in the U.S. - over 250 miles.

• Wisconsin's deepest lake is Green Lake with a depth of 229 feet.

• Eagle River has the largest number of lakes in a chain in the world -28 ttl.

• Wisconsin's largest lake is Winnebago with 137,708 acres.

• The Fox River is one of the few rivers in the nation that flows north.

• 22 Apostle Islands comprise the National Lakeshore in Lake Superior.
  The smallest is 3 acres. The largest 14,000 acres.

Historically Speaking

• During different times in history, Wisconsin was part of the Territory of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan.

• The Green Bay Packers were one of the founding teams of the National Football League.

• The Circus World Museum in Baraboo is located at the birthplace of the Ringling Brothers Circus,
  which is winter quartered there.

• The first white man to reach Wisconsin was Jean Nicolet, a French fur trader, in 1634.

• Wisconsin was the 30th state in the U.S.

• Wisconsin's first permanent settlement was founded in 1764, near what is now called Green Bay

• Milwaukee native Golda Meir became famous as the prime minister of a foreign country

Famous Folks

• Gary Burghoff M*A*S*H's Radar O'Reilly is from Wisconsin.

• Ella Wheeler Wilcox, of Westport, is Wisconsin's most famous poet.
  She is best known for the quote "Laugh and the word laughs with you".

• Georgia O'Keefe, of Sun Prairie is recognized as one of the leading artists of our time.

• Actor Gene Wilder was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Thorton Wilder, Pulitzer prize winning author, was born in Madison, Wisconsin.

• Spencer Tracy was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

• Henry Aaron played for Eau Claire, Wisconsin's minor league baseball
  team before he became a star for the Milwaukee Braves.

• In 1934, John Dillinger and his mob hid out in Little Bohemia, in Vilas County.

• The famous magician Harry Houdini was raised in Appleton, Wisconsin.

• One of the world's most famous pianists, Liberace, was born and
  raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

• Edna Ferber, of Appleton, wrote Show Boat, Giant and Cimarron

• Carl Eliason, resident of St. Germain, Wisconsin, is the inventor of the snowmobile.

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