The original name was the French appellation for the entire locality about Chequamegon Bay, named "La Pointe de Chequamegon," by Father Allouez. The Jesuit mission there established by him in 1665 was known as La Pointe du St. Esprit (see Wis. Hist. Colls., xiii, p. 404, and accompanying note). In the eighteenth century, the French post here established was frequently spoken of as "La Pointe" (for an example, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xvii, p. 9), although the official designation was Chequamegon. The name La Pointe was finally, in the nineteenth century, limited to the trading village on Madelaine Island, for which place the county was named.

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[Source: Kellogg, Louise Phelps. "Derivation of County Names" in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 1909, pages 219-231. ]