Eau Claire is a city located in west-central Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Eau Claire County. As of the 2000 census, the population was 61,704.
Eau Claire is located at 44°48'53" North, 91°29'34" West (44.814627, -91.492677), approximately 90 miles (145 km) east of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The city is located on the northern fringes of the Driftless Zone.
The city was founded near the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers, as three separate settlements. The main section of the downtown is on the site of the original village of Eau Claire. Across the river was West Eau Claire, founded in 1856, near the site of the present day county courthouse. Between a mile and a half and two miles downstream, the Daniel Shaw & Co. lumber company founded a town, Shawtown, which was annexed to the city by the 1930s. By the 1950s, the unified city had spread far enough to the east to adjoin Altoona.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 83.8 km2 (32.4 mi2). 78.4 km2 (30.3 mi2) of it is land and 5.4 km2 (2.1 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 6.46% water.
The terrain of the city is characterized by the river valleys, with steep slopes leading from the center to the eastern and southern sections of the city. The lands into which the urban area is currently expanding are increasingly hilly.
There are two lakes in the city, Dell's Pond, and Half Moon Lake. Dell's Pond is a reservoir created by a hydroelectric dam, and was formerly used as a holding pool for logs. Half Moon Lake is an oxbow created as part of the former course of the Chippewa River.
The lumber industry drove Eau Claire's growth in the late 19th century. At one time, there were 22 sawmills operating in the city. Today retail, health care and education are the primary employment sections for Eau Claire
Since the loss of several thousand manufacturing jobs in the early 1990s (due to the closure of the local Uniroyal tire plant--Uniroyal has itself since become a part of the Michelin corporation), the city's economy was reshaped by the opening of a number of plants engaged in the construction of computer hardware, such as Hutchinson Technology's largest plant (the company is based in Hutchinson, Minnesota) and 3M, based in the Twin Cities.
Eau Claire is home to a few national/regional companies including Menards, National Presto Industries, Inc., Silver Spring Gardens (world's largest grower and producer of horseradish products ) and Erbert & Gerberts (a midwestern sandwich chain).
Source:
EauClaireWisconsin.com
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