The Alden post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Malden (1860), Wagon Landing (1872) and Little Falls (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,918157 years
How historic is Alden?
C
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Alden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Alden’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alden is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #310 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alden’s overall grade.
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 Alden’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Alden’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Alden had its own post office from 1869 to 1902. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Malden
1860–1867
Alden
1869–1902
Wagon Landing
1872–1902
Little Falls
1874–1904
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Horse CreekLittle Falls
Gone or out of use
High Bridge SchoolschoolLakeside SchoolschoolMeadowview SchoolschoolPine Lake SchoolschoolPolk County Lime QuarrymineWagon Landing Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Alden
Wagon Landing
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Alden, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alden yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Alden is a town in Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,918 at the 2020 Census. The unincorporated community of Little Falls is located in the town.
Its first post office opened in 1869. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,786 to 2,918 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Alden in 1858
Passages that mention Alden, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Vinton memorial, comprising a genealogy of the descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 16481858 · page 506Read the page →
Read the text
1776 Adams, Anne 156 1829 Adams, Elias 1413 1836 Adams, James M. 1377 1798 Alden, Bzra 537 1786 7 Alden, Isaac 529 1829 Alden, Martha 838 1797 Alden, Mary 534 Alden, Sarah 1348
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.
Timeline
Alden, 1860 to 1974
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Alden post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Alden rank for history?
Alden is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #310 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.
How old are the homes in Alden?
8% of Alden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
