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History · Arena

Arena’s post office opened in 1849, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1880.

1849first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Arena’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Arena began

When was Arena founded?

1849

The Arena post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 266 in 18802020 census: 844177 years
Founding year: the first Arena post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Arena.
★ 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
Timeline

Arena, 1849 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Arena post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909In the archiveArena, WI Depot 1909
  5. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

Its first post office opened in 1849. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 834 in 2010, 844 in 2020.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Arena in 1881

Passages that mention Arena, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Waldwick and Moscow Towns, was also constituted a precinct called Yellow Stone. In 1845, the precinct of Peddler's Creek was divided, that part which is now Mifflin being erected into a precinct entitled Dallas. In 1846, a precinct called Rcevesville was set off in the northeast part of the county,…
History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources...biographical sketches..1881 · page 581Read the page →
Read the text

Waldwick and Moscow Towns, was also constituted a precinct called Yellow Stone. In 1845, the precinct of Peddler's Creek was divided, that part which is now Mifflin being erected into a precinct entitled Dallas. In 1846, a precinct called Rcevesville was set off in the northeast part of the county, the present town of Arena, and one called Percussion, now the town of Wyoming. That section of the county now known as Pulaski, was constituted a precinct called Wisconsin, in 1848, and at the same time the precinct of Otter Creek wa.s erected, what is nowknown as the town of Clyde. The precinct of Mineral Point was erected in 1836, and was first called Pecatonica, atul then constituted the chief polling place in the county.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This station of the C, M. & St. P. R. R., is located near the Wisconsin River, Section 16, Township 8, Range 4, Town of Arena. It was founded in 1861, by William Bartlett, who circulated a subscription among the surrounding farmers, and raised an amount which proved sufficient inducement to the rai…
History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources...biographical sketches..1881 · page 787Read the page →
Read the text

This station of the C, M. & St. P. R. R., is located near the Wisconsin River, Section 16, Township 8, Range 4, Town of Arena. It was founded in 1861, by William Bartlett, who circulated a subscription among the surrounding farmers, and raised an amount which proved sufficient inducement to the railroad company to establish a station at this point. Here Mr.

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.

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
Today11 recent
Arena 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
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.

Famous people

Famous people close to Arena

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

See all →
Skylar GreyAmerican singer · b. 1986
Archie HahnGerman-American athlete · b. 1880
August DerlethAmerican novelist, short story writer, poet, ed… · b. 1909
Mike WilkinsonAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Marissa BodeAmerican actress · b. 2000
Brandon GilbeckAmerican basketball player · b. 1996

Questions about Arena’s history

What year was Arena founded?

The Arena post office opened in 1849, 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 (12), 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 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.