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History · Bloom

35% of Bloom’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1983 on.

0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Bloom’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 Bloom are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bloom, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bloom’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bloom’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

West Branch
1855–1881
West Lima
1860–1973
Bloom City
1887–1985
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bloom CityWest Lima
Gone or out of use
Carter SchoolschoolChristian Union ChurchchurchEckleberry SchoolschoolGault SchoolschoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 8school
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bloom
Bloom CityCzechs NationalPleasant RidgeWoodstock

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

The story so far

Bloom, in brief

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

Bloom is a town in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 538 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Bloom City and West Lima are located within the Town of Bloom. The unincorporated community of Ash Ridge is also located partially in the town.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 512 to 538 (+5%).

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

Timeline

Bloom, 1855 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe West Branch post office opens
  3. 1860Post officeThe West Lima post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe West Branch post office closes
  5. 1887Post officeThe Bloom City post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1973Post officeThe West Lima post office closes
  8. 1983On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1985Post officeThe Bloom City post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Bloom on the map in 1983

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bloom.

Bloom on the 1983 USGS map1983Yuba sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bloom

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

See all →
Frank Lloyd WrightAmerican architect · b. 1867
Raymond Leo BurkeAmerican Catholic cardinal · b. 1948
Marc MitscherUnited States admiral · b. 1887
Lynda BarryAmerican cartoonist · b. 1956
Vernon Wallace ThomsonAmerican politician · b. 1905
Otis B. ThayerActor, Director · b. 1862
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HenriettaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townForestIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townYubaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnionIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarshallIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bloom’s history

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.