Antigo is a city in and the county seat of Langlade County, Wisconsin,United States.[5] The population was 8,234 at the 2010 census. Antigo is the center of a farming and lumbering district, and its manufactures consist principally of lumber, chairs, furniture, sashes, doors and blinds, hubs and spokes, and other wood products.
The name "Antigo" comes from the Chippewa Indian name for the river that flows through the area, "Nequi-Antigo-sebi" meaning "spring river" or "evergreen".
The city was founded in 1876 by Francis A. Deleglise, accompanied by George Eckart. The log cabin in which Deleglise lived is preserved and on display at the Langlade County Museum. A street in Antigo also bears his name. The city gained its charter in 1883.
In the early part of the 1900s, Antigo was best known for its sawmills. At the turn of the millennium, the city's economy had a balance of industry and agriculture. High on the list are potatoes, dairy products, fur, shoes, fertilizer, steel and aluminum products, along with the lumber and wood product industries established in the earlier years.
Antigo is located at 45°8′28″N 89°9′12″W (45.141218, -89.153385), about 160 miles (260 km) northwest of Milwaukee.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.60 square miles (17.09 km2), of which, 6.54 square miles (16.94 km2) is land and 0.06 square miles (0.16 km2) is water.
Antigo sits on a plateau about 1,500 feet (460 m) above sea level. The wide expanse of level land, the fine stand of timber and the fertility of the "Antigo Flats" soil soon attracted many settlers. Today the Antigo Silt Loam soil is the state soil of Wisconsin.
Antigo's high school football team won Division 1 state championships in 1976, 1978 and 1982. It also won three state titles prior to the introduction of the WIAA tournament system in 1976. From 1920 to 2007, the school won 23 Wisconsin Valley Conference championships and six state titles from 1970–1982, including seven seasons in which the team did not lose a game. In 1976 and 1982, Coach Gordon Schofield was the WFCA Coach of the Year.
Other state championships for Antigo high school sports includes the boys' hockey championship in 1993, the state wrestling championship in 1984, and the girls' bowling championship in 2007. In 1990, the 13-year-old boys' junior baseball all-star team was the Wisconsin-Minnesota state champion. In 1998, the 15/16 yr. old Senior League baseball all-star team won the Wisconsin state championship and the Wisconsin-Minnesota-Iowa championship.
The Langlade County Museum is housed in the 1902 Carnegie library building on the corner of 7th Avenue and Superior Street. The building housed the Antigo Public Library from 1905 to 1997. The museum contains historical artifacts and archives of Langlade County and the City of Antigo.
In Antigo and the surrounding area recreational activities include fishing, hunting, swimming, snowmobiling. The Kettlebowl ski area, in nearbyBryant, Wisconsin, provides downhill and cross country skiing opportunities. The Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association is in Antigo.
The Clara R McKenna Aquatic Center opened in 2005 on the site of Antigo High School, offers Antigo area residents a year-round recreation pool and lap pool.
The Langlade County fairgrounds, located in Antigo, has an indoor ice rink in winter and facilities for off-road racing and demolition derbies in summer. As well as Friday night Stockcar races, the National Anthem starts at 7 pm.