Established: 1836
County Seat: Stevens Point
Parent: Territorial County

Birth, Death, & Marriage Records:
Earliest Registration Dates*:
Births 1866
Deaths 1875
Marriages 1859

Portage Register of Deeds:
1516 Church Street
Stevens Point, WI 54481-3598
Telephone: (715) 346-1428

PORTAGE.

From: Handbook of Wisconsin by S. Silas, 1855

pg. 95-96

Portage County lies on the Wisconsin River and its branches, and is almost exclusively engaged in lumbering, its whole supplies, till within a year or two, being drawn from below.--Settlers have gone in during 1854 and '5, who have selected farms, and will soon bring their produce to market. For many years, the business at the lumbering depots will make a ready market for all the produce of the County. The land is not as good for agriculture as most of the other Counties, though there are locations for farms which cannot be surpassed. The Wisconsin Pinery is one of the oldest in the State, it having been surveyed, and timber cut for about ten years, yet the population has probably doubled during the last year.

For the past year the attention of settlers has been directed to lands on the numerous streams entering the Wisconsin River, and a very large accession has been made to the population, of enterprising farmers, who are sure speedily to meet their reward.

Stevens Point, is the largest place, having a population in June, of 833. It is well situated on the Wisconsin River, and will probably always be the center of the lumber trade for that region. The Land Offices for this district are located here.

Plover, seven miles from Stevens Point is the County Seat, having about 300 inhabitants.

Conant's Rapids is a thriving village.