Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #197 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1893 on.
The Bristol post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Lakeville (1840) and South Bristol (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bristol is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #197 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Bristol’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Bristol’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bristol. 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 Bristol.
Bristol’s post office has been open since 1839. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bristol yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1839. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,584 to 5,192 (+101%).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bristol’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Bristol itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Bristol post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Bristol is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #197 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.
12% of Bristol’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1978.
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).
From the Library of Congress (1), 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.
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