SUMMARY. 
83 
SUMMARY 
Portage County is situated a little to the east of the center 
of the state. It comprises an area of 759 square miles or 485,- 
760 acres. The surface features vary from level to rolling to 
hilly, with the major part of the county gently rolling. Eleva¬ 
tions along railroads range from 767 to 930 feet aobve sea level. 
All of the county lies within the drainage basin of the Wolf 
River. The Embarrass, Waupaca, and Little Wolf are tribu¬ 
taries of the Wolf River which traverse portions of the area 
surveyed. 
The first settler came to Waupaca County in 1843, and settled 
at the present site of Fremont. The county was organized in 
1851. In 1910 the population of the county was 32,782 of which 
83.7% was classed as rural. This is a well established region, 
and population is fairly well distributed throughout the county. 
The largest tracts of unimproved land are in the northwestern 
part of the county. 
This country is traversed by the main line of the Green Bay 
& Western Railroad, the Soo Line, and the eastern side of the 
area is skirted by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. 
The mean annual rainfall is approximately 31 inches, and the 
mean annual temperature 43.9 degrees. The winters are long 
severe with a snow fall of about 40 inches, but the summers are 
warm and all crops make rapid growth. There is an average 
growing season of 127 free from killing frosts. 
The agriculture of the county shows all stages of development. 
The southwestern portion of the area has considerable sandy soil 
some of which has a low value for farming purposes. There are 
also some sandy spots in other parts of the county but not of 
such great extent. There are many highly improved farms 
within the area, and this is one of the leading potato growing 
districts of the state. 
The principal crops grown are hay, oats, potatoes, corn, rye, 
barley, some wheat and buckwheat. General farming is the pre¬ 
vailing type of agriculture, with dairying and potato growing 
as the most important interests. The average size of farms is 
110 acres and approximately 90% of the farms are operated by 
their owner. 
