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–Not graded
History · Akan

44% of Akan’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1933 on.

0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0

What stands out about Akan’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 Akan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Akan’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Akan’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Akan.

Read it all →

Akan was named for road builder Robert Akan, who helped construct a road to Rockbridge.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Akan, 1890 to 1933

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Five Points post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911Post officeThe Five Points post office closes
  5. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Akan, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Gorman Family Farm2015Gorman Family FarmDriftless Area - panoramio (63)2015Driftless Area - panoramio (63)Barn and a Silo - panoramio (4)2014Barn and a Silo - panoramio (4)Rural Crawford-Richland County2013Rural Crawford-Richland CountyFar Western Richland County2013Far Western Richland CountyAkanWisconsinTownHallWIS1712010AkanWisconsinTownHallWIS171WIMap-doton-Akan2004WIMap-doton-Akan
On the map

Akan on the map, 1933 to 1983

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

Akan on the 1933 USGS mapAkan on the 1966 USGS mapAkan on the 1983 USGS map1933Boaz sheet · 1:62,500

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Akan

Nobody well known was born in Akan itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Frank Lloyd WrightAmerican architect · b. 1867
Raymond Leo BurkeAmerican Catholic cardinal · b. 1948
Lynda BarryAmerican cartoonist · b. 1956
Vernon Wallace ThomsonAmerican politician · b. 1905
Otis B. ThayerActor, Director · b. 1862
George H. HodgesAmerican politician · b. 1866
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Five Points, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Five PointsJimtown
Gone or out of use
Akan Township QuarrymineCore Hollow SchoolschoolDieter Hollow ChurchchurchDieter SchoolschoolFerguson SchoolschoolHarmony ChurchchurchJohnson SchoolschoolRyan SchoolschoolTiller SchoolschoolTorgerson SchoolschoolUpper Knapp Creek SchoolschoolWest Branch Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Akan
FeltonFive Points

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

ClaytonIts storyB−SylvanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRichwood2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDaytonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Akan’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 (7), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.