Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #326 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Most of Brockway was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1924 on.
Brockway was named for Eustace L. Brockway, an area sawmill and steamboat operator who served in the Wisconsin legislature in 1872.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brockway is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #326 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Brockway’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: our sources. 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 Brockway’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brockway. 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 Brockway.
From Wikipedia’s history of Brockway.
The Town of Brockway was organized out of a portion of the town of Albion in the early 1890s. It was named for Eustace L. Brockway, an area sawmill and steamboat operator who served in the Wisconsin legislature in 1872.
The town of Komensky was organized from a portion of the town of Brockway in 1913.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nobody well known was born in Brockway itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Vaudreuil, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Brockway is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #326 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.
7% of Brockway’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikipedia, 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.
2024
2012
2012
2012
2004