Your Town: How Wausau got its name

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - Wausau is smack dab in the middle of the state and for relatives or friends who are visiting, it can seem like quite a hike or better yet, a far-away place. As it turns out, those people are more right than they think.

For 150 years, Wausau has grown and developed into the city it is today, but before it was called Wausau, it went by a different name.

Marathon County Historical Society Archivist Ben Clark says the city was named after what first drew settlers to this area, Big Bull Falls. “It’s a bit wordy and they wanted something a little more succinct. Which is the name of the river, the falls on the river.”

“The name Wausau didn’t get used until 1850. It’s around this time we’re actually part of Portage County,” says Clark. That did not work for one lumberman though, “Walter McIndoe who represents this area in the legislature says hey we need a new county.” This meant finding a new name for Big Bull Falls.

The name change began with some curious loggers. “They asked, where are you going?” says Clark. As it turns out, the Chippewa people said, “Wausa-wita” which roughly translates to, “A long way yet.”

“So, because of that lack of understanding of the same language, they answered it slightly differently to questions it left these lumbermen thinking ‘oh they’re headed to Big Bull Falls. They must call that Wausau.”

The name has stuck ever since. Not only could the settlers relate, but the name also honored the native history of the area.

Clark says, “They were in the middle of nowhere. It took weeks or months to get letters to come in and they were so isolated they did feel like they were in a very distant place. They went with Wausau because it had a nice ring to it and that’s where it’s been ever since.”

Like most words and names, Wausau has a different interpretation in other languages. According to the city, another native language says the word Wausau means “A noise like thunder,” likely due to the noise the water made rushing over the falls.

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