Onalaska, Wisconsin should not be confused with Unalaska, Alaska.
| Official Name: | Onalaska, Wisconsin |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Wisconsin |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | La Crosse |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Kim Smith |
| Established Date: | 1851 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 10.97 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 10.38 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.60 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 28.43 |
| Area Land Km2: | 26.88 |
| Area Water Km2: | 1.55 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Est: | 18975 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Total: | 18803 |
| Population Density Km2: | 704.77 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 1825.30 |
| Timezone: | Central |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | Central |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation Ft: | 700 |
| Coordinates: | 43.8844°N -91.2353°W |
| Website: | www.cityofonalaska.com |
| Postal Code Type: | Zipcode |
| Postal Code: | 54650 |
| Area Code: | 608 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 55-59925 |
| Blank2 Name: | Public Transit |
| Blank2 Info: | La Crosse MTU |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
Onalaska [2] is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,803 at the 2020 census. It borders the larger La Crosse, Wisconsin, and is a part of the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Area.[3]
Onalaska is built on a slightly elevated ridge above the Black River. Natural areas include both river bottom land and high, heavily wooded, scenic bluffs. A man-made reservoir at the city's western edge is known as Lake Onalaska. Onalaska is known as "The Sunfish Capital of the World."
The original village (now city) was platted by Thomas G. Rowe (New York) and John C. Laird (Pennsylvania) in 1851. In its early days, lumbering and related industries served as a basis for its economy.[4]
The name for the city comes from the poem "The Pleasures of Hope", by the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell. The original spelling of the name in Campbell's poem was "Oonalaska" (an Aleutian island and fishing village).[5]
Other places named Onalaska are in Arkansas (now defunct), Texas, and Washington; they are historically linked to one another through the lumber industry. In Alaska, the modern day city of Unalaska and Unalaska Island are linked to the Onalaskas through Thomas Campbell's poem. Unalaska is the original Oonalaska or Onalaska or "Ounalashka" (Russian spelling) immortalized by Campbell.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.97sqmi, of which 10.38sqmi is land and 0.6sqmi is water.[6]
Onalaska lies immediately north of La Crosse, on the Black River. It is the second-largest city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin.
Named streams within the current corporate limits of the city include the Black River, the La Crosse River and Sand Lake Coulee Creek. In the 1930s, the construction of Lake Onalaska resulted in the flooding and eventual disappearance of a shallow, natural body of water, Rice Lake, and several smaller ponds in the Black River bottoms area.
Brice Prairie is an urban reserve area within the City of Onalaska, located below the ridge on which most of the city is situated. It lies to the northwest of the city's current northern border and is directly on Lake Onalaska.