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History · Alvin

Alvin’s post office opened in 1909

Most of Alvin was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 8 old photos and papers and maps from 1970 on.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Alvin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Alvin began

When was Alvin founded?

1909

The Alvin post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nelma (1920), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 173117 years
Founding year: the first Alvin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
The story so far

Alvin, in brief

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

Alvin is a town in Forest County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 173 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Alvin Spencer, a Baptist minister from Powell County, Kentucky who arrived in the area around 1908. The unincorporated communities of Alvin and Nelma are located in the town. Wisconsin Highway 55 goes through Alvin and Nelma.

Its first post office opened in 1909. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 157 to 173 (+10%).

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

Timeline

Alvin, 1909 to 1970

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Alvin post office opens
  3. 1920Post officeThe Nelma post office opens
  4. 1937In the archiveA quilting party in an Alvin, Wisconsin, home
  5. 1945Post officeThe Nelma post office closes
  6. 1958Post officeThe Alvin post office closes
  7. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Alvin, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s8 items
A quilting party in an Alvin, Wisconsin, home1937A quilting party in an Alvin, Wisconsin, homeMr. Smallwood, shacker near Alvin, Wisconsin, sawing wood1937Mr. Smallwood, shacker near Alvin, Wisconsin, sawing …Gate made from the end of an old bed. Alvin, Wisconsin1937Gate made from the end of an old bed. Alvin, WisconsinGrandpaw and Grandmaw Puchett, pioneers, in their home at Alvin, Wisconsin1937Grandpaw and Grandmaw Puchett, pioneers, in their hom…Grandmaw Puchett, one of the pioneers in this region in her home at Alvin, Wisconsin1937Grandmaw Puchett, one of the pioneers in this region …Mrs. Smallwood and her baby in the shack which they share with another family near Alvin, Wisconsin1937Mrs. Smallwood and her baby in the shack which they s…The Ingraham family who share a shack with another family near Alvin, Wisconsin. Mrs. Ingraham is sick in bed1937The Ingraham family who share a shack with another fa…Corner of room occupied by the Smallwoods in a two-family shack near Alvin, Wisconsin. The pump does not work1937Corner of room occupied by the Smallwoods in a two-fa…
1940s–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
On the map

Alvin on the map in 1970

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alvin.

Alvin on the 1970 USGS map1970Alvin 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 Alvin.

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.

A quilting party in an Alvin, Wisconsin, home
Retake this viewA quilting party in an Alvin, Wisconsin, home, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Alvin had its own post office from 1909 to 1958. Another post office, Nelma, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alvin
1909–1958
Nelma
1920–1945
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Nelma
1cemetery inside Alvin
Lakeview

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

Help out

Finish Alvin’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewA quilting party in an Alvin, Wisconsin…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

TiplerIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPopple RiverIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHiles1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townArgonneIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPhelps2 historic placesB−

Questions about Alvin’s history

What year was Alvin founded?

The Alvin post office opened in 1909, 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 the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (1), 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.