city, seat (1887) of Oneida county, northern Wisconsin, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the Wisconsin (Wisconsin River) and Pelican rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Wausau. It is surrounded by a heavy concentration of lakes, and Nicolet National Forest lies to the east. The city, originally called Pelican Rapids, was founded in 1880 as a logging centre; two years later it was renamed for F.W. Rhinelander, president of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway. The city subsequently developed as a centre of a busy year-round resort area. In addition to tourism, the economy is based on the production of wood products, specialty and packaging paper, high-speed drills, potatoes, and cranberries.

The Rhinelander Logging Museum Complex in Pioneer Park includes a replica of a lumber camp and displays the “Five Spot,” the last narrow-gauge locomotive (1925) to work Wisconsin's North Woods. The museum also houses a replica of a “hodag,” a grotesque animal once said to have inhabited the area but exposed as a photographic hoax. Rhinelander is the seat of a technical college (1968). Inc. 1894. Pop. (1990) 7,427; (2000) 7,735.