More Wisconsin Geography Trivia Quiz

Answer: Madison

While the state capitol is named after him, the fourth President does not have a county named after him in Wisconsin.

Washington County is in the southeastern part of the state, Adams County (John and John Quincy) is in the center of the state, Jefferson county is in the southeast, Monroe county is in West Central Wisconsin (near La Crosse) and Jackson County is also in the west central part of the state.

Answer: Pittsville

Kohler declared Pittsville as the center of the state, and there is a historical plaque about the announcement. The problem is that Pittsville is actually about 20 miles southwest of the actual geographical center, which is near Eau Pleine in Portage County.

In you simply count the land area of Wisconsin, the center shifts to near Auburndale, which is about 20 miles north of Pittsville. Junction City has the closest claim, as it is four miles south of Eau Plein.

Answer: Poniatowski

45 degrees is the center of the northern hemisphere and 90 degrees is the center of the western hemisphere. It is the only one of the four "half points" that is easily accessible. Poniatowski is a little southeast of the actual location, which is in a city park just off Meridian Road.
Poniatowski is an unicorporated community in the town of Reitbock. The closest city is Athens. It is not a very big town, mainly a bar and a church (so a typical Wisconsin small town).

Rib Falls, Edgar and Little Chicago are all in Marathon County but farther away from 45-90.

Answer: Pepin

Pepin County, the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, is only 232 square miles. Ozaukee is marginally larger at 233 square miles - it expands dramatically if you include Lake Michigan in the equation. Milwaukee County rings in at 241 square miles, and Racine has 332.5 square miles.

Wisconsin's largest county, Marathon, the home of Poniatowski, comes in at a whopping 1545 square miles, the same size as Rhode Island.

Answer: Timm's Hill

While Wisconsin has lovely scenery, it is not the place to visit if you are looking for big mountains. The highest point in the state is Timm's Hill in Price County, at 1951 feet. If you do want to visit, Timm's Hill is about six miles east of Ogema along Highway 86. Timm's Hill is in a County Park that includes Bass Lake, a lovely place for boating or fishing.

The other three locations are not that much lower: Sugar Bush Hill in Forest County is 1939 feet, Lookout Mountain in Lincoln County is 1920 feet and Rib Mountain in Marathon County is 1924 feet.

Answer: True

Wisconsin is 320 miles north to south versus 295 miles east to west. The northernmost point is just north of the Apostle Islands, while the southernmost point is the border with Illinois. The easternmost point is near North Manitou island, while the westernmost point is on the Saiont Croix River in Burnett County.

Answer: Green Lake

Green Lake is the deepest lake in Wisconsin, at 236 feet. While it is extremely large, Lake Winnebago is very shallow, with a maximum depth of 21 feet. Lake Mendota is the largest lake in Dane County, but is only 83 feet at its deepest. And despite its name, Deep Lake in Adams County is only 49 feet deep.

Answer: Door County

Door County, which is entirely peninsula, has a shoreline of 240 miles. It is one of the most scenic parts of the state.

Ashland County, which is along Lake Superior, has 194 miles. Brown County, despite being the home of Green Bay, has only 42 miles. And Sheboygan has 26 miles along Lake Michigan.

Answer: Lake Superior

Madeline Island, part of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, is 15,389 acres.

Washington Island, the second largest island in Lake Michigan, is just northeast of Door County, and is 15,046 acres. Green Bay has several large islands, including 2483 acre Chambers Island. The biggest island in the Mississippi is simply designated Island number 166, and is just over 1000 acres, barely a blip in Superior or Michigan.

Answer: River running through a red place

Wisconsin means "River running through a red place," a reference to the sandstone cliffs that lie along the Wisconsin River. It is from the Miami language.

As for the others, Milwaukee translates as "The Good Land" in Pottawottamie (Alice Cooper was right about that), Suamico (originally Oussamigong) means "place of the yellow beaver" and Kenosha is the "place of the pike" in either Menonee or Pottawottamie.