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BHistory
History · Barneveld

Barneveld’s post office opened in 1881, and 7 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Barneveld was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1910.

1881first post office
7on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Barneveld’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Barneveld began

When was Barneveld founded?

1881

The Barneveld post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 317 in 19102020 census: 1,331145 years

How historic is Barneveld?

B

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Barneveld’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Barneveld is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Barneveld’s overall grade.
Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.0% of homes (±3.0) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register7 listings, 11 historic buildings, 77.7 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
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 Barneveld’s 77.7 sits above most of its state (92% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 (±3.0 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 Barneveld’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.Landmarks on the Register7 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barneveld’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barneveld’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 viewBarneveld tornado aerial photo: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

7 historic places in Barneveld

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

places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
11
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Cassidy Farmhouse
Cassidy Farmhouse, built 1860Grove Street Historic DistrictHarris House, built 1890Ihm House, built 1891Kittleson House, built 1911Roethlisberger HouseRoberts House, built 1920
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne3
Vernacular2
Greek Revival1
American Foursquare1
Colonial Revival1
Bungalow1
Cassidy FarmhouseGreek Revival · Built 1860
Grove Street Historic DistrictDistrict
Harris HouseQueen Anne · Built 1890
Ihm HouseQueen Anne · Built 1891
Kittleson HouseAmerican Foursquare · Built 1911
Roethlisberger HouseVernacular
Roberts HouseVernacular · Built 1920

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

The story so far

Barneveld, in brief

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

Barneveld is a village in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,331 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community was named after John of Barneveld of the Netherlands.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,231 to 1,331 (+8%).

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

Timeline

Barneveld, 1860 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860BuiltCassidy Farmhouse is built
  3. 1881Post officeThe Barneveld post office opens
  4. 1890BuiltHarris House is built
  5. 1891BuiltIhm House is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1911BuiltKittleson House is built
  8. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1984In the archiveBarneveld tornado aerial photo
By decade

Barneveld, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Barneveld tornado aerial photo1984Barneveld tornado aerial photo
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
Today6 recent
Barneveld Water Tower Survived an F5 Tornado2010Barneveld Water Tower Survived an F5 TornadoBarneveldWisconsinWatertower2009BarneveldWisconsinWatertowerBarneveldWisconsinSign2009BarneveldWisconsinSignBarneveld19842009Barneveld1984Barneveld, Wisconsin - 1011092009Barneveld, Wisconsin - 101109WIMap-doton-Barneveld2004WIMap-doton-Barneveld
On the map

Barneveld on the map, 1920 to 1962

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

Barneveld on the 1920 USGS mapBarneveld 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 Barneveld.

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.

Barneveld tornado aerial photo
Retake this viewBarneveld tornado aerial photo, 1984

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Barneveld, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001920194019601980200020201,331

Grew from 317 people in 1910 to 1,331 in 2020, 4 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Barneveld

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

See all →
Skylar GreyAmerican singer · b. 1986
Robert M. La FolletteAmerican progressive politician from Wisconsin · b. 1855
Archie HahnGerman-American athlete · b. 1880
Mike WilkinsonAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Allen LuddenAmerican television personality, actor, emcee a… · b. 1917
Marissa BodeAmerican actress · b. 2000
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Barneveld’s post office has been open since 1881.

Gone or out of use
Kittleson Krest Airportairport

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

Questions about Barneveld’s history

What year was Barneveld founded?

The Barneveld post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Barneveld rank for history?

Barneveld is more historic than 57% 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 Barneveld?

7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Cassidy Farmhouse (listed 1986, the first), and 1 historic district, the Grove Street Historic District, with 5 contributing buildings. 11 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Barneveld?

8% of Barneveld’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1988.

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 (7), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.