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–Not graded
History · Birchwood

Birchwood’s post office opened in 1901, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1930.

1901first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Birchwood began

When was Birchwood founded?

1901

The Birchwood post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 565 in 19302020 census: 402125 years
Founding year: the first Birchwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Birchwood’s 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 Birchwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Birchwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Birchwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Birchwood.

Read it all →

Knapp, Stout and Company was a logging company in Northern Wisconsin. Founded in 1846 William Willson brought the company together. The company was originally owned by William Wilson, Andrew Tainter, John Knapp, and Henry Stout. Knapp, Stout and Co. became the largest lumber company in the world. In 1873 they owned 115,000 acres of pine forests. They put out 55,000,000 ft. of lumber, 20,000,000 shingles, and 20,000,000 lath annually. The company owned six big farms with six or seven thousand acres of improved land to supply the lumber camps with pork and wheat.

ChaptersKnapp, Stout & CompanyFirst SettlersThe Birch Lake DamBirchwood's BestSchools

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Birchwood, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Birchwood Village Hall2024Birchwood Village HallUS Post Office2016US Post OfficeBirchwood Wisconsin Sign WIS482016Birchwood Wisconsin Sign WIS48Birchwood Wisconsin Downtown WIS482016Birchwood Wisconsin Downtown WIS48WIMap-doton-Birchwood2005WIMap-doton-BirchwoodWIMap-doton-Birchwood-town2005WIMap-doton-Birchwood-town
On the map

Birchwood on the map, 1965 to 1982

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

Birchwood on the 1965 USGS mapBirchwood on the 1982 USGS map1965Rice Lake 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 Birchwood.

People over time

Birchwood, census by census

010020030040050060019401960198020002020Peak: 565

Between 394 and 565 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Birchwood

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

See all →
Dick LaneAmerican actor and television announcer · b. 1899
Henry EllensonAmerican basketball player · b. 1997
John G. Blystone1892–1938; American film director · b. 1892
Harold OlsenAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1895
Josh EngelAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1984
Ed CannadayAmerican politician · b. 1940
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

EdgewaterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Birchwood’s history

What year was Birchwood founded?

The Birchwood post office opened in 1901, 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 (6), Wikipedia, 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.