Spooner is the top of the road for us, about an hour and a half north of Eau Claire on Highway 53, a city of about 2,500 that calls itself the Crossroads of the North because 53, 63, 70 and 253 all meet here. It's the largest city in Washburn County, though the county seat is Shell Lake.
The commercial lots here are the hospital, the schools, the downtown and the industrial sites off the highways. Spooner Health is on Chandler Drive. The school district has its elementary, middle and high schools all in the city, and the high school on Highway 70 is a 163,000 square foot building whose track hosts the Heart O' North conference championships. Downtown runs along Walnut Street and River Street, and the state's largest cool-water fish hatchery, on West Maple Street, brings visitors year-round.
The city's development districts hold a machine shop, a warehouse built for Frito-Lay, a 24,000 square foot office and manufacturing building and an auto dealer, and the city has bought another 27 acres between Highway 53 and Highway 63 for what comes next.
Where the lots are in Spooner
- Downtown Walnut Street
- South River Street
- Highway 70
- The Highway 53 and 63 junction
Around Spooner:
Governor Thompson State Fish Hatchery on West Maple Street, Spooner Health on Chandler Drive, The rodeo grounds on West Beaverbrook Avenue, The Railroad Memories Museum in the old depot, Walnut Street.
2,494 people, 2024 Census estimate.
Spooner's average high stays below freezing from November through February and it gets about 51 inches of snow a year. Overnight lows only average above 50 in June, July and August, which is the sealing window.