Buffalo City, WI

Buffalo City is a Buffalo County city on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River, west of Cochrane on Spring Lake, a river backwater. The 2020 census counted 1,007 residents. Water shapes the city's working map: River Road follows the shore, boat landings open the sloughs, and Foelsch Riverside Park adds a one-mile nature trail. The original Buffalo County Jail, built in 1862, sits in Buffalo City Park, giving the small city a tangible connection to the county's earliest government.

Buffalo City was chartered in 1859 and is Buffalo County's oldest incorporated city. The name may trace to brothers who raised buffalo on a bluff above town, a story reflected in the city's unusual identity. Today, city hall, the park system, boat access, and the Cochrane-Fountain City School District organize everyday services. Fishing, birding, and backwater travel are part of the local landscape, while the place remains a river-edge working community shaped by floodplain roads, small businesses, and access to the larger county network.