The defining landmark for this region has long
been Rib Mountain. The four-mile-long ridge of
ancient quartzite towers 600 feet over the
surrounding landscape (1,942 feet above sea
level) and dates back some 1.7 billion years.
But people have not always agreed that it
should be called a “mountain.”
In the 1800s, you would be as likely to hear
locals describe the landmark on the horizon as
“Rib Hill” as “Rib Mountain.” Official state and
national maps usually called it Rib Hill well into
the 20th century (but would sometimes include
Rib Mountain, too, for good measure). But by the
turn of the early 1900s, the name Rib Mountain
was becoming more common. This was helped
by local leaders who adopted Rib Mountain as a
symbol to boost tourism.
By the 1930s, they found success in promoting
the name Rib Mountain to the wider public.
The area’s high point was in the Town of Fleith,
which officially changed its name to Town of
Rib Mountain in 1930. In 1931, the Wausau Region
Chamber of Commerce requested that the State
Conservation Commission use the Rib Mountain
name for the state park being developed there.
And three years later, Wisconsin’s 10th state park
was dedicated with the name Rib Mountain
State Park.
Over the next 20 years, regional and national
maps replaced Rib Hill with Rib Mountain.
At the end of 1949, the U.S. National Board of
Geographic Names officially ruled it should be
called Rib Mountain, not Rib Hill. Between the
popularity of the state park and the development
of the beloved ski hill that also bore the name
(until it became Granite Peak in 2000), people far
and wide have come to know Rib Mountain. And
even when visitors to the area mistakenly call it a
Rib Hill, locals try not to hold it against them.
