Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #180 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Most of Brookfield was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listings are the Dousman Inn and the George H. and Frances Daubner House. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1960.
The Brookfield post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Brookfield Centre (1852), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookfield is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #180 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Brookfield’s 1.0 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 Brookfield’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brookfield. 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 Brookfield.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereCaroline Ingalls is born here
BuiltDousman Inn is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJoe Thomas is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Brookfield.
Brookfield is west of Milwaukee in Waukesha County in an area originally inhabited by Potawatomi Indians. The first white settler, William Howe, arrived in 1820 with a Presidential Land Grant giving him title to the area. Soon after, Robert Curren bought a claim in 1836 and established a tavern and inn.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2012Golfing in 2012 drought
2010Westlake debate
2010Ron Johnson debate cropped
2010GalleriaWestBrookfield
2010Brookfield
2010Brookfield Streetscape Winter
2010Brookfield Square
2009Town of Brookfield Tower
2008Ma Ingalls Hist Marker 2008-08 006
2008Brookfield Tower 2
2008Brookfield Tower
2008Brookfield Lilly Heights 2008bThe 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.
Grew from 19,812 people in 1960 to 41,464 in 2020.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brookfield’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Brookfield had its own post office from 1840 to 1856. Another post office, Brookfield Centre, 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.
The Brookfield post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Brookfield is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #180 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.
Two places: the Dousman Inn (listed 1979) and the George H. and Frances Daubner House (2022).
3% of Brookfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (12), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
