Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Brandon Village Hall and Library. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.
The Brandon post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brandon’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Brandon.
Brandon was originally dubbed "Bungtown" in the town's creation in 1856.
The Rens Hemp Company of Brandon, Wisconsin, closed in 1958, the last legal hemp producer nationwide in operation following the World Wars. Prior to its 1957 shutdown, Rens had been the primary provider of hemp rope for the United States Navy.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Passages that mention Brandon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The business interests of Brandon are represented by enterprising men in the various departments of industry and commerce. An extended sketch of most of them will be found in the Biographical Department of this History. A rich agricultural country is tributary to Brandon, which is a thrifty village of 800 population. It contains four general stores, three hardware stores, two drug stores, two groceries, three milliners' stores, one notion store, one jewelry store, one flouring-mill, one planing-mill, two wagon-shops, three harness-shops, two shoe-shops, two meat markets, two hotels, one merchant tailor, two paint-shops, one cooper-shop, one cabinetshop, three blacksmith-shops, one barber-shop, four grain warehouses, two lumber-yards, five grain
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The business interests of Brandon are represented by enterprising men in the various departments of industry and commerce. An extended sketch of most of them will be found in the Biographical Departihent of this History. A rich agricultural country is tributary to Brandon, which is a thrifty village of 800 population. It contains four general stores, three hardware stores, two drug stores, two groceries, three milliners' stores, one notion store, one jewelry store, one flouring-mill, one planing-mill, two wagon-shops, three harness-shops, two shoe-shops, two meat markets, two hotels, one merchant tailor, two paint-shops, one cooper-shop, one cabinetshop, three blacksmith-shops, one barber-shop, four grain warehouses, two lumber-yards, five grain
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mctomcn is the other railroad station in the township, besides Brandon. It has no business houses, stores., shops or manufactories. The post office is in official charge of Mrs. E. Reynolds.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Metomen is the other railroad station in the township, besides Brandon. It has no business Ifouses, stores, shops or manufactories. The post office is in official charge of Mrs. E. Reynolds.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2025Soo Line 1003, Brandon - Flickr - chief huddleston
2016Untitled photo
2016Untitled photo
2013Fond du Lac County Highway Commission
2013Fairwater Brandon Wisconsin Fire Station Water Tower
2013Brandon Wisconsin Welcome Sign
2013Brandon Wisconsin Train Depot
2013Brandon Wisconsin Sign Looking North WIS49
2013Brandon Wisconsin Post Office
2013Brandon Wisconsin Downtown Looking West WIS49
2013Brandon Wisconsin Downtown Looking East WIS49
2013Brandon Village Hall and Library Wisconsin
2013Brandon Fairwater Wisconsin Fire Station
2007BrandonWisconsinDowntownWIS49Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brandon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brandon.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 601 and 912 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brandon’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Brandon post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Brandon Village Hall and Library (listed 2008).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (14), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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, 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.
