Town in Ashland County
Town of La Pointe
- Population
- 428
- County
- Ashland County
- Location
- 46.941, -90.571
The Town of La Pointe is a Wisconsin town (an unincorporated minor civil division) in Ashland County that occupies Madeline Island, the largest and only inhabited island of the Apostle Islands in western Lake Superior, and the only Apostle Island not part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Its 2020 Census population was 428, with a Wisconsin Department of Administration final estimate of 440 as of January 1, 2025, and the town's own figures describe a winter population near 430 that swells to roughly 2,500 in summer. It is reached by the Madeline Island Ferry Line from Bayfield (about a 20 to 25 minute crossing) and by a winter route when the ferry cannot run, and is governed by an elected five-member town board plus an appointed town administrator. The island economy is built on four-season Lake Superior tourism, anchored by Big Bay State Park, the Wisconsin Historical Society's Madeline Island Museum, and deep Ojibwe and fur-trade heritage.
What the records show
- Population: 428 (2020 census), 440 (latest official estimate) via doa.wi.gov
- Area: 77.76 sq mi land, 0.391 sq mi water, at 46.940645, -90.57083 via www2.census.gov
- Ashland County holds 88 named lakes and flowages via prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com
- Named lakes nearest this town: Bog Lake, Big Bay Lagoon via prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com
- Name: Town of La Pointe via townoflapointewi.gov
- Type: town (unincorporated MCD) via doa.wi.gov
- County: Ashland County via www2.census.gov
- Island: Madeline Island (Apostle Islands) via townoflapointewi.gov
Every figure here traces to a primary public record, linked at the fact. We gather and cite; we do not author. See something off? Tell us.