Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Rhinelander, WI

Rhinelander is the county seat and largest city of Oneida County, in the heart of Wisconsin's Northwoods.

The settlement was originally called Pelican Rapids, named for the rapids just above where the Pelican River meets the Wisconsin River.

The Brown brothers named the new city after Frederic W. Rhinelander, president of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway, to persuade the railroad to build to their lumber town; the rail line arrived in 1882 and jump-started Rhinelander's growth.

The 2020 census counted 8,285 people in Rhinelander, up from 7,798 in 2010, with 4,123 housing units in the city.

Rhinelander is famous as the home of the Hodag, a folkloric green creature with horns and spikes said to stalk the local woods.

Prankster and timber cruiser Eugene Shepard launched the Hodag legend in 1893, reporting a beast with the head of a frog, the face of a giant elephant and the back of a dinosaur that his hunting party supposedly had to kill with dynamite.

In 1896 Shepard exhibited a 'live' Hodag at the first Oneida County Fair, secretly moving it with hidden wires; he admitted the hoax only when Smithsonian Institution scientists announced they were coming to inspect the creature.

The Hodag became Rhinelander's official symbol and serves as the mascot of Rhinelander High School; a large Hodag statue greets visitors outside the Chamber of Commerce.

Rhinelander hosts the Hodag Country Festival, a well-known country music festival that draws fans to the Northwoods.

The Pioneer Park Historical Complex preserves the area's logging-era past, with a logging museum, a Civilian Conservation Corps museum and a replica logging camp.