FredericWisconsin

Logs, rails & a village

Frederic grew up around the logging camps and the Soo Line. The depot still stands.

The story

The Soo Line railroad and logging started Frederic. Over the next 70 years it grew into the retail and service hub for northern Polk County and southern Burnett County.

The railroad was the main line of commerce through the area for more than half of the last century. When the Soo Line ended rail service through Frederic in 1989, the village acquired the depot and handed its care to the Frederic Area Historical Society. The rail grade became the Gandy Dancer State Trail.

Frederic has kept its small-town character. The old theater is now the public library, the second largest in Polk County, and the depot is the area museum.

Frederic's main street with mid-century cars and storefronts The Frederic Soo Line depot Red Soo Line caboose number 137

Timeline

  1. 1901The Soo Line depot is built at the railroad's shops in Minneapolis, shipped to Frederic by rail and assembled here.
  2. 1903Frederic is founded as a logging village.
  3. 1961On June 25, passenger trains 62 and 63 between the Twin Cities and Duluth are discontinued, ending passenger service at Frederic.
  4. 1989The Soo Line abandons rail service through Frederic. The village acquires the depot.
  5. 2000The renovated depot is dedicated as the Frederic Area Museum.
  6. 2017The village completes a Comprehensive Plan with the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

Soo Line Depot & Museum

The depot museum with a carved wooden bear and daylilies out front

The 1901 depot is the last of its kind on what was once the main line of commerce through the area. Along with local history inside, the grounds hold the original Frederic library building, an immigrant's log cabin from the late 1800s and Soo Line wide-vision caboose #137. The depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Address
210 Oak Street W
Season
Memorial Day weekend through leaf season
Hours
Weekends & holidays, 11 am to 3 pm
Admission
Free, donations welcome

Run by volunteers of the Frederic Area Historical Society. New members and donated memorabilia are always welcome: call 715-327-4158.

Village facts

Population
1,154 (2020 census)
County
Polk County, Wisconsin
Highways
WIS 35 and WIS 48
Elevation
1,210 feet
Area
About 1.8 square miles
Getting here
About 1.5 hours from the Twin Cities and from Duluth-Superior

Our emblem

Village of Frederic emblem: three hand-drawn trees in gold, blue and olive

Three hand-drawn trees in gold, blue and olive, standing together the way the north woods do around Frederic.

The emblem was designed by a Frederic resident and chosen through a community design contest. It is the mark you see across the village website.

Frederic natives

People born in Frederic include:

  • Nathan Heffernan, justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
  • Carol Merrill, model on the original "Let's Make a Deal"
  • Erin Gloria Ryan, writer and podcaster
  • Robert M. Dueholm and Harvey Stower, Wisconsin politicians

Also connected to Frederic: Rodney Erickson, former president of Penn State University, and Erick H. Johnson, a Wisconsin politician who lived here.