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History · Alban

Alban’s post office opened in 1873, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Alban began

When was Alban founded?

1873

The Alban post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 863153 years
Founding year: the first Alban post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Alban’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alban’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 so far

Alban, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alban yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alban is a town in Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 863 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Alban is located within the town. The town was named after Civil War Colonel James S. Alban, a state senator in the early 1850s lost in the Battle of Shiloh. The Township is Town 25 North, Range 10 East, 4th Principal Meridian.

Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 885 to 863 (-2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Alban, 1873 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Alban post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Post officeThe Alban post office closes
  5. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Alban on the map, 1969 to 1984

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

Alban on the 1969 USGS mapAlban on the 1984 USGS map1969Rosholt 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 Alban.

Famous people

Famous people close to Alban

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

See all →
Tyler BiadaszAmerican football player · b. 1997
D
Dylan PageAmerican basketball player · b. 1982
D
Dave KriegAmerican football player · b. 1958
C
Chester L. KrauseAmerican numismatist and publisher · b. 1923
George B. NelsonJustice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court · b. 1876
Tim PolasekAmerican football coach · b. 1979
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Alban had its own post office from 1873 to 1904.

Alban
1873–1904
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Hamilton Schoolschool

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.

FranzenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSharonIts storyCHarrisonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Hope1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alban’s history

What year was Alban founded?

The Alban post office opened in 1873, 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 →
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 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.