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B−History
History · Athens

Athens’ post office opened in 1890, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Athens began

When was Athens founded?

1890

The Athens post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 904 in 19102020 census: 1,059136 years

How historic is Athens?

B−

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Athens post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Athens’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Athens is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Athens’ overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194024.5% of homes (±3.1) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 45%
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 Athens’ 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 B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 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 Athens’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Athens are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Athens’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Athens, in brief

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

Athens is a village in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,059 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,105 to 1,059 (-4%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Athens in 1913

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

In a few years the growing village of Athens furnished a market for logs, there being the saw mill of Fred. Rietbrock and a grist mill at Rib Falls was already in existence not to exceed from three to ten miles from the settlement.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 560Read the page →
Read the text

In a few years the growing village of Athens furnished a market for logs, there being the saw mill of Fred. Rietbrock and a grist mill at Rib Falls was already in existence not to exceed from three to ten miles from the settlement.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Abbotsford-Eastern Railroad, now owned by the Sault St. Marie & M. R. R. runs through the town from Athens to Abbotsford and has two stations; the first one out from Athens is called Corinth, and there is a general merchandise store kept by Stallmann Brothers. There is also a landingplace for l…
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 562Read the page →
Read the text

The Abbotsford-Eastern Railroad, now owned by the Sault St. Marie & M. R. R. runs through the town from Athens to Abbotsford and has two stations; the first one out from Athens is called Corinth, and there is a general merchandise store kept by Stallmann Brothers. There is also a landingplace for loading logs hauled east to Athens and west to other stations.

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

Athens, 1884 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Born hereCharles Winninger is born here
  3. 1890Post officeThe Athens post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1953Born hereRuss Decker is born here
By decade

Athens, decade by decade

Today3 recent
2009-0620-Athens20092009-0620-Athens2009-0620-Athens-downtown20092009-0620-Athens-downtownWIMap-doton-Athens2004WIMap-doton-Athens
On the map

Athens on the map, 1902 to 1980

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

Athens on the 1902 USGS mapAthens on the 1980 USGS map1902Marathon sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Athens.

People over time

Athens, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,105

Between 770 and 1,105 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Athens

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Charles WinningerActor · b. 1884
Russ DeckerAmerican politician · b. 1953
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

RietbrockIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBernIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJohnsonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHalseyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Athens’ history

What year was Athens founded?

The Athens post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Athens rank for history?

Athens is more historic than 45% 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.

How old are the homes in Athens?

25% of Athens’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1966.

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 (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.