Bayfield is a city in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 584 at the 2020 census, making it the city with the smallest population in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Highway 13 serves as a main route in the community. Formerly the county seat and home to industries in lumbering and commercial fishing, today it is a tourist and resort destination referred to as the "Gateway to the Apostle Islands".
History
Bayfield was named in 1856 for Henry Bayfield, a British Royal Topographic Engineer who explored the region in 1822–23. A post office has been in operation at Bayfield since 1856.
The first Catholic church was built in Bayfield in 1860, with the Franciscans following in 1878. Mass was held in the English and Ojibwe languages. In 1879, the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate established an Indian residential school in Bayfield at the request of the Franciscan pastor. Bayfield Mission Boarding and Day School, also known as Holy Family Mission School, included students from the Fond du Lac Band Chippewa and the Saulteaux Ojibwe. In an 1889 report the school's superintendent said that his goals for the school were "civilizing the children and entirely abolishing the use of the Chippewa language." The school operated until 1999.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Bayfield is the main gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, a group of 21 islands in Lake Superior. Madeline Island is the largest of the Apostle Islands and the only one not in the National Lakeshore. A ferry to Madeline Island links Bayfield with La Pointe, Wisconsin, a community on the island. Bayfield's position on the lake was instrumental for transportation and commerce when the city was first established; common destinations were the nearby cities of La Pointe and Ashland.