Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
The Albany post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Albany is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Albany’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Albany’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Albany. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Albany.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Albany yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Albany is a village in Green County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,096 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Albany.
Its first post office opened in 1848. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,018 to 1,096 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Albany, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Mr. Witter, from the town of Brooklyn, presented a petition from the citizens of said town and the town of Albany, praying that section 6, in said town of Albany be added to the town of Brooklyn, which, on motion, was laid on the table.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of section 15, in township 2 north, of range 9 east, (town of Decatur), where it has a width of about half a mile. In passing into township 3, in the same range (town of Albany) it widens to nearly two miles. It then becomes narrower; attains its greatest elevation above the river at the village of Albany; and finally disappears beneath the surface of the river about a mile and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1S40, five years after he came to the county, James Campbell built the first house in the town of Albany. It was near Sugar river, about a mile farther south than the present village of Albany. The same year, Mr. Higby built a house in Rock County, which was so near the north-east corner of Albany that it has been called the first house in the township. Mr. Campbell did not go to Albany to live until 1S41. It is his
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
build the mill the next year, removed there with his family. In '46, with the assistance of J. V. Richardson as surveyor, Pond and Nichols laid out the village of Albany. They also built a saw mill, and succeeded in getting a mail route established from Beloit via Janesville, Albany, and Exeter to Mineral Point. Capt.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJohn Litel is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveMethodist ChurchOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Albany’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 267 and 1,191 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Albany’s Wikipedia page.
The Albany post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Albany is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
55% of Albany’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1938.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1907
2008