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History · Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg’s post office opened in 1857, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1880.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fredericksburg began

When was Fredericksburg founded?

1857

The Fredericksburg post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 203 in 18802020 census: 987169 years
Founding year: the first Fredericksburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fredericksburg’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Fredericksburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fredericksburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fredericksburg’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Fredericksburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fredericksburg.

Read it all →

Fredericksburg was incorporated on December 18, 1894. The city was named after Frederick Padden, a local settler who platted the village in 1856. In the late 1800s, Dr. William S. Pitts, a local physician and composer who wrote "The Church in the Wildwood", served as mayor of the town.

Bert L. Van Gorden (1873-1941), Wisconsin State Assemblyman and businessman, was born in Fredericksburg.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Fredericksburg, decade by decade

Today3 recent
FredericksburgIowaPopPlot2021FredericksburgIowaPopPlotDowntown2018DowntownIAMap-doton-Fredericksburg2004IAMap-doton-Fredericksburg
On the map

Fredericksburg on the map, 1971 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fredericksburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fredericksburg on the 1971 USGS mapFredericksburg on the 1984 USGS map1971Fredericksburg sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fredericksburg.

Every building

Fredericksburg, building by building, 1914

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Fredericksburg fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Fredericksburg, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,075

Between 203 and 1,075 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fredericksburg’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Fredericksburg’s post office has been open since 1857.

Gone or out of use
Fredericksburglocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Fredericksburg’s history

What year was Fredericksburg founded?

The Fredericksburg post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.