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History · Edgerton

Edgerton’s post office opened in 1871, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Edgerton began

When was Edgerton founded?

1871

The Edgerton post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 145 in 18802020 census: 601155 years
Founding year: the first Edgerton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Edgerton’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 Edgerton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Edgerton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Edgerton’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 Edgerton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Edgerton.

Read it all →

A post office called Edgerton has been in operation since 1871. The community was named after one Mr. Edgerton, a railroad employee.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Edgerton, 1871 to 1951

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Edgerton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909Born hereJim Davis is born here
  5. 1913Born hereMargaret Hart Ferraro is born here
  6. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Edgerton, decade by decade

Today2 recent
EdgertonMo2025EdgertonMoMOMap-doton-Edgerton2004MOMap-doton-Edgerton
On the map

Edgerton on the map, 1951 to 1978

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

Edgerton on the 1951 USGS mapEdgerton on the 1961 USGS mapEdgerton on the 1978 USGS map1951Edgerton 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 Edgerton.

People over time

Edgerton, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020601

Grew from 145 people in 1880 to 601 in 2020, 4 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Edgerton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Jim DavisAmerican actor · b. 1909
M
Margaret Hart FerraroAmerican burlesque performer · b. 1913

Questions about Edgerton’s history

What year was Edgerton founded?

The Edgerton post office opened in 1871, 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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.