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History · Alma Center

Alma Center’s post office opened in 1893, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1924 on, and the census since 1880.

1893first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Alma Center’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Alma Center began

When was Alma Center founded?

1893

The Alma Center post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Alma Centre (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 170 in 18802020 census: 487133 years
Founding year: the first Alma Center post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Alma Center’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19243 editions of the USGS map, 1924 to 1984. Watch Alma Center change.Old housesHalf of Alma Center’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alma Center’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alma Center’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewImmaculate Conception Church: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Alma Center on the map, 1924 to 1984

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

Alma Center on the 1924 USGS mapAlma Center on the 1968 USGS mapAlma Center on the 1984 USGS map1924Black River Falls 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 Alma Center.

The story so far

Alma Center, in brief

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

Alma Center is a village in Jackson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 487 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Alma.

Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 503 to 487 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Alma Center, 1874 to 1924

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Alma Centre post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Alma Centre post office closes
  4. 1893Post officeThe Alma Center post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1909In the archiveImmaculate Conception Church
  7. 1924On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Alma Center, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Immaculate Conception Church1909Immaculate Conception Church
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
AlmaCenterWisconsinSignWIS952009AlmaCenterWisconsinSignWIS95AlmaCenterWisconsinDowntown2WIS952009AlmaCenterWisconsinDowntown2WIS95AlmaCenterDowntown12009AlmaCenterDowntown1WIMap-doton-Alma b2004WIMap-doton-Alma bWIMap-doton-Alma Center2004WIMap-doton-Alma Center
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Immaculate Conception Church
Retake this viewImmaculate Conception Church, 1909

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Alma Center’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Alma Center, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 503

Between 170 and 503 people in every census since 1880.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Alma Center

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

See all →
Carole LandisAmerican actress · b. 1919
Herman EkernLawyer, politician; Lieutenant Governor of Wisc… · b. 1872
Edward E. LyonUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1871
Hugh H. PriceAmerican politician · b. 1859
Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr.United States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1925
E
Ernie RudolphAmerican baseball player · b. 1909
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Alma Center’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Alma Centre, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alma Centre
1874–1893
Alma Center
1893–today
18701950today

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.

AlmaIts storyC+Garden ValleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alma Center’s history

What year was Alma Center founded?

The Alma Center post office opened in 1893, 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 Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), 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.