24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Hayward, WI

Hayward is the county seat of Sawyer County and the county's only incorporated city, sitting on the Namekagon River in northwestern Wisconsin, about 70 miles south of Lake Superior.

The city was named for lumberman Anthony Judson Hayward, who dammed the Namekagon River and built the 'Big Mill'; the City of Hayward was formally organized in 1883, the same year Sawyer County was created from parts of Chippewa and Ashland counties.

Hayward had 2,533 residents at the 2020 census, and Census survey data counts about 1,271 households in the city.

Hayward is home to the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame, whose centerpiece is a fiberglass muskie 143 feet long and 41 feet tall - visitors can climb inside the fish and stand on an observation platform in its mouth.

The all-tackle world-record muskellunge, a 67-pound, 8-ounce, 60.5-inch fish caught by Cal Johnson in Lac Courte Oreilles in 1949, is still displayed at Hayward's Moccasin Bar.

Every February the American Birkebeiner, North America's largest cross-country ski race, finishes in Hayward across Lake Hayward and down Main Street; Tony Wise founded the race in 1973 with just 35 skiers, and it now draws more than 13,000.

Hayward has hosted the Lumberjack World Championships since 1960, with log rolling, speed chopping and pole climbing competitions.

Southeast of town lies the Chippewa Flowage, a 15,300-acre reservoir created in 1923 with about 233 miles of shoreline and roughly 200 islands, famous for musky fishing.

The city celebrates its fishing fame each summer with the Musky Festival, including a parade and fishing contest.

Hayward's surrounding lakes include Lac Courte Oreilles, about 5,139 acres and 90 feet deep, and the exceptionally clear 3,294-acre Round Lake.