Village of Rothschild, Marathon County, Wisconsin: Place Profile

No hospital or HRSA health center site is recorded in Rothschild.

The municipality is the Village of Rothschild, an incorporated village in Marathon County, Wisconsin (Census place GEOID 5569725; WI DOA code 37176).

Rothschild is a village governed by an elected village president and a board of trustees, not a town board.

Rothschild Village Hall is at 211 Grand Avenue, Rothschild, WI 54474 (phone 715-359-3660).

Rothschild addresses use ZIP code 54474.

Rothschild village covers 6.547 square miles of land and 0.377 square miles of water, with an internal point near 44.873714, -89.61975.

Rothschild sits on both I-39/US 51 and WIS 29 and calls itself the gateway community into the Wausau metro area via exit 185.

The village has direct highway access at exit 185 on I-39/US 51 and exit 177 on WIS 29.

Rothschild lies on the east side of the Wisconsin River and Lake Wausau; its parks include about 4,600 feet of river frontage at the Pavilion and Kort Street Boat Launch complex.

USGS GNIS records Rothschild as a populated place in Marathon County at 44.8871907, -89.6201218.

Wikipedia describes Rothschild as the northern terminus of Interstate 39. The terminus is the WIS 29 interchange near Rothschild.

The 2020 Census counted 5,567 residents in the Village of Rothschild.

The Wisconsin DOA January 1, 2025 official estimate for Rothschild is 5,678 residents.

The Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimate for Rothschild village is 5,629 (July 1, 2024), from a 2020 estimates base of 5,560.

The ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate of Rothschild's population is 5,532 (margin of error +/-23).

Rothschild's median age is 37.9 years (ACS 2019-2023, margin of error +/-8.5).

Rothschild's median household income is $87,250 (ACS 2019-2023, margin of error +/-$10,125).

The median value of owner-occupied homes in Rothschild is $188,000 (ACS 2019-2023, margin of error +/-$17,564).

Rothschild had about 450 residents when it incorporated in 1917.

The village president is Dan Helgeson, whose term expires in April 2027.

The Village Board page lists six trustees: Deb Ehster, Jason Jablonski, Paul Kennedy, Louella Luedtke, Bill Schremp, and Sam Stroik.

In the April 7, 2026 spring election, incumbent trustees Bill Schremp (869 votes), Deb Ehster (717), and Paul Kennedy (716) were reelected over challenger Emily Ohlrich (597), per unofficial results.

Rothschild's village president and trustees serve two-year terms, and nomination papers are due to the village by 5:00 p.m. on the first business day in January.

Ryan VanDeWalle, MPA, is the village administrator.

Elizabeth Felkner, WCMC, is the village clerk (715-359-3660).

Other village staff include Finance Director/Treasurer Melanie Wiskow, Administrator of Public Works Timothy D. Vergara, P.E., and Zoning Coordinator Rebekka Borchardt.

The Village Board meets on Monday evenings, usually twice a month; the September 14, 2026 meeting started at 6:30 p.m. at Rothschild Village Hall with a Zoom option.

Village Board agendas, packets, and minutes post on the village website's Agendas & Meeting Minutes page, with records back to 2024.

The village website has a Public Notices page and an e-notification sign-up, but the notices page listed no active notices on the fetch date.

The village's official website is www.rothschildwi.com.

The Rothschild Area Municipal Court at 211 Grand Avenue serves the Villages of Rothschild, Marathon City, Edgar and Weston, the City of Schofield, and the Town of Weston; the judge is Rhonda Werner Schultz.

The village runs the Rothschild Water Utility; six village board members and the village president sit as the Water Utility Commission.

Rothschild's polling place on election day is the Rothschild Pavilion.

The Mountain Bay Metropolitan Police Department polices Rothschild, Schofield, and Weston and lists its address as 211 Grand Avenue, Rothschild (715-359-3333).

Weston and Rothschild plan a new Mountain Bay Metro headquarters costing roughly $7 million, with Rothschild's share about $2.5 million, according to January 2026 reporting.

The Riverside Fire District provides fire, EMS, and rescue for Rothschild and the City of Schofield from 20 Alexander Ave, Rothschild (715-359-3500).

A trustee's March 2026 candidate answers name Jeremy Hunt as Mountain Bay Metro police chief and David Briggs as Riverside Fire District chief.

Rothschild's public schools belong to the D.C. Everest Area School District, which enrolled 5,847 students in 2024-25 and is headquartered at 6100 Alderson St, Weston.

Rothschild Elementary is a public school at 810 1st St, Rothschild (NCES ID 551317001739).

Evergreen Elementary is a public school at 1610 Pine Rd, Rothschild (NCES ID 551317001737); the D C Everest 4K Community Partnership uses the same address.

The village says three elementary schools are within Rothschild and opens their grounds for public recreation outside school hours.

Domtar's Rothschild paper mill at 200 N Grand Ave. has an annual paper production capacity of 131,000 short tons.

The mill began as Marathon Paper Mills, incorporated February 3, 1909, and started making paper on November 18, 1910.

Domtar broke ground in August 2025 on replacing the Rothschild Dam's timber crib spillway, an estimated $84 million project that includes $42 million in state aid.

The village names three primary commercial districts: Pavilion Marketplace, Brown Boulevard, and the Cedar Creek area.

According to the village, the Cedar Creek area has the metro's only multi-screen movie theater, its largest convention center, and six hotels.

A Canadian National rail line serves Rothschild industrial users, with about 4 miles of track along the village's western edge.

Distribution and logistics companies with Rothschild investments include Old Dominion, Krueger Wholesale Florists, and Central Beer Distributors.

Wausau Homes and Wausau Tile are headquartered in Rothschild.

The village cites a 25-minute drive-time trade area of more than 170,000 residents.

WAVL (FM, 100.5 MHz) and FM translator W230BU (93.9 MHz) are licensed to Rothschild.

Wausau Pilot & Review covers Rothschild village government, including candidate profiles and election results.

The village publishes its own news list and newsletters; the most recent, a Fall Newsletter, posted September 16, 2026.

The Marathon County Public Library's Rothschild Branch is at 211 Grand Avenue, in the same complex as the village hall (715-359-6208), and is open six days a week.

The Rothschild branch library started in 1949 through the Rothschild Homemakers. A combined library and village hall complex was completed in March 1999, when the Schofield and Rothschild branches merged.

The Rothschild Pavilion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 27, 2002.

A U.S. Post Office is on Brown Boulevard, the village's historic downtown.

The village reports nearly 100 acres of parkland and miles of trails, many connected to the Wausau-area trail network.

Gaska Park is a 48-acre, mostly wooded park with trails, a ball diamond, a rentable pavilion, and a fenced dog park of just under three acres.

River Park (5.8 acres) connects to the only pedestrian bridge across the Wisconsin River in the Wausau metro region.

The Cedar Creek Recreation Area has about 4.5 miles of hiking and biking trails on more than 250 acres. Its gateway is a butterfly and pollinator garden on a former landfill, first planted in fall 2023.

The Rothschild/Schofield Aquatic Center at Pavilion Park, 1004 Park Street, ran its 2026 season from June 6 to August 16.

The Rothschild Pavilion (built 1911) is a rental venue booked through Rothschild Village Hall, with a 6,760 sq ft maple dance floor on 24 railcar springs; it holds 1,200 standing or 500 at banquet tables.

Lake Wausau, a Wisconsin River reservoir, borders Rothschild. GNIS lists a 'Lake Wausau 4016' reservoir feature near 44.8916, -89.6268.

Veterans Memorial Park, beside the village hall, holds a bronze Gold Star Mothers' statue. The village marks Gold Star Families' Day on the last Sunday of September.

The Blue Star Memorial was rededicated at its new site south of the village hall on November 11, 2007, and a Fallen Soldier's Memorial was added on November 9, 2008.

The Rothschild library branch runs recurring public programs, including book clubs and cribbage nights.

Rothschild was part of the Town of Weston until voters approved incorporation 41 to 21 on July 31, 1917.

W. F. Hewitt was Rothschild's first village president.

Rothschild grew up around Marathon Paper Mills. C. C. Yawkey was the company's president and D. C. Everest its general manager.

Floods in fall 1911 damaged the new mill and dam, and crews dynamited the dam's west wing to relieve flooding.

Rothschild formed its first police department in 1936. Before that, the village elected a constable and a marshal.

A fire destroyed the old village hall in 1968, and the new hall was dedicated June 28, 1970. The current combined hall and library complex was completed in 1999.

Built in 1912, the Rothschild Dam originally powered the mill and created Lake Wausau.