On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beloit is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #142 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Beloit’s overall grade.
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 Beloit’s 1.3 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1836.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Beloit’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beloit. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Janesville 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 Beloit.
Every building
Beloit, building by building, 1884–1926
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Twelve men in Colebrook, New Hampshire created the "New England Emigrating Company" in October 1836, and sent Horace White to find a suitable region of Wisconsin in which to settle. The level fields and the water power of Turtle Creek and "unlimited gravel" in the area around what is now Beloit fixed the site of the village and farms. White purchased the land. At the same time as the Colebrook settlers, six families from Bedford, New Hampshire, arrived and settled in the region. They said the Rock River Valley had a "New England look" that made them feel at home. The village was platted in 1838 and was planned with wide streets, building on the New England model.
Passages that mention Beloit, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Rock County, Wisconsin1879 · page 504Read the page →
Read the text
There are no villages in the town of Beloit ; but the city is wholly within its limits. It has two railroads — the Madison Division of the Chicago & North- Western and the Western Union. The former enters the town from the south at Beloit and leaves it on Section 3, passing into the tow^n of Rock ; the latter, after passing i;n a southwest direction through the towns of Clinton and Turtle, enters the town of Beloit near the city, and, running a short distance in the place last mentioned, passes into Illinois. The town is well watered and timbered, and is one of the wealthiest agricultural towns in the county.- Most of the farms are large and under a high state of cultivation. The improvements are excellent. The town has but one post
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Rock County, Wisconsin1879 · page 739Read the page →
Read the text
started a dry-goods jobbing house, which they carried on for two years, during which time they made about $21 ,000. About the year 1845, he weot to Galena, 111., and engaged in the dry-goods and boot and shoe business, and, in about six months, on account of sickness in his family, boxed up his goods and shipped them to Beloit, Wis., where he opened a dry-goods, boot and shoe and grocery store; this business he carried on for about three years, and, in 1849, he went to Cambridge, Dane Co., and bouglit a town site and mill property, built a grist and saw mill, and ran them for two years and a half, when he sold them out; in 1851, he bought another town site in Avon, Kock Co., Wis., built up a water-power and started a general store and also purchased 3,000 acres of land there ; in 1852, he sold out the water-power
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
Beloit, 1836 to 1891
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1836, according to Wikidata. the census of 1860 counted 4,098 people here.
How does Beloit rank for history?
Beloit is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #142 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Beloit?
One place: the Clark-Brown House (listed 1985).
How old are the homes in Beloit?
10% of Beloit’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1964.
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), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1880
1887
1898