Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Arena

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Arena

13% of Arena’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the William Henry Brisbane House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1880.

1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Arena’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Arena’s history

How historic is Arena?

B

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Arena’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Arena is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Arena’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194012.5% of homes (±3.2) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 6.6 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 62%
NewerOlder

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 Arena’s 6.6 sits above most of its state (69% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Arena’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.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Arena, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Arena’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Arena’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 viewArena, WI Depot 1909: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Helena
1831–1867
Helena Station
1864–1881
Helena
1874–1894
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Coon RockHelena
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Arena
ArenaDavisDover Culver

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

The story so far

Arena, in brief

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

Arena is a village in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 844 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Arena. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,456 to 1,486 (+2%).

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

Timeline

Arena, 1831 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831Post officeThe Helena post office opens
  3. 1864Post officeThe Helena Station post office opens
  4. 1867Post officeThe Helena post office closes
  5. 1874Post officeThe Helena post office opens
  6. 1881Post officeThe Helena Station post office closes
  7. 1894Post officeThe Helena post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1909In the archiveArena, WI Depot 1909
  10. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Arena, decade by decade

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

1900s1 item
Arena, WI Depot 19091909Arena, WI Depot 1909
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
Today17 recent
Farm near2013Farm nearFarm Between Arena and Spring Green2013Farm Between Arena and Spring GreenDriftless Area during Fall2013Driftless Area during FallDriftless Area during Autumn2013Driftless Area during AutumnDriftless Area - panoramio (33)2013Driftless Area - panoramio (33)Dairy Farm near2013Dairy Farm nearArena Town Hall ^ Garage2013Arena Town Hall ^ GarageArena Fire Station2013Arena Fire StationArena Cemetery2013Arena CemeteryGrandma Mary's Cafe2012Grandma Mary's CafeArena Elementary School2012Arena Elementary SchoolArena Cheese Inc. Home of Colby-Jack Cheese2012Arena Cheese Inc. Home of Colby-Jack CheeseWilliam Henry Brisbane House Driveway2011William Henry Brisbane House DrivewayArena Tower2009Arena TowerArenaWisconsinWaterTower2007ArenaWisconsinWaterTowerArenaWisconsin2007ArenaWisconsinWIMap-doton-Arena2004WIMap-doton-Arena
On the map

Arena on the map, 1920 to 1962

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

Arena on the 1920 USGS mapArena on the 1962 USGS map1920Blue Mounds 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 Arena.

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.

Arena, WI Depot 1909
Retake this viewArena, WI Depot 1909, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Arena

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
William Henry Brisbane House
William Henry Brisbane House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

I-House1
William Henry Brisbane HouseI-House

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Arena, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020844

Grew from 266 people in 1880 to 844 in 2020, 3 times over.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Troy1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpring Green1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWyoming5 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrigham1 historic placeA−Ridgeway2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMazomanie2 historic placesA−VermontIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Arena’s history

How does Arena rank for history?

Arena is more historic than 62% 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.

What is on the National Register in Arena?

One place: the William Henry Brisbane House (listed 1990).

How old are the homes in Arena?

13% of Arena’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 1983.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (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.