The story
Read it all →How Brussels came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Brussels.
Brussels, a civil town in Door County, was created on November 12, 1858.
ChaptersMost Belgian-American towns
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Brussels
Brussels’ post office opened in 1862, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and old-book passages.
1862first post office
5on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Quick answers
How Brussels began
When was Brussels founded?
1862
The Brussels post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Tornado (1872) and Kolberg (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,125164 years
How historic is Brussels?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Brussels post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Brussels’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brussels is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brussels’ overall grade.
Founding era1862, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194030.9% of homes (±7.3) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register5 listings, 10 historic buildings, 89.9 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 81%
NewerOlder
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 Brussels’ 89.9 sits above most of its state (94% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Brussels’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Brussels’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brussels’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Brussels’s post office has been open since 1862. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Brussels
Tornado
Kolberg
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Kolberg
Gone or out of use
Mick Schier Field AirportairportRoosevelt SchoolschoolSaint Michaels Churchchurch
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brussels
Saint FrancisSaint Michaels
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the National Register
5 historic places in Brussels
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
10
each building in a district counts
first listed
2004
J.B. Bouche House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements4
Classical Revival1
J.B. Bouche HouseLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements
Joachine J. Falque HouseLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1880
Joint Brussels and Garner Dristrict School Number OneClassical Revival · Built 1910
Joseph Monfils FarmsteadLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1921
Louis Vangindertahlen HouseLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1921
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Brussels in 1881
Passages that mention Brussels, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 19Read the page →
Read the text
The next meeting of the county board was held the following February, and the town of Brussels was set off, consisting of the present towns of Brussels, Gardner, and Union, and was organized the following spring.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 56Read the page →
Read the text
The greater portion of the population of the town of Brussels is of Belgian nativity or birth, and by their request the town was called "Brussels"— the same name as the city which is the Capital of Belgium.
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.
Timeline
Brussels, 1862 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1862Post officeThe Brussels post office opens
- 1872Post officeThe Tornado post office opens
- 1880BuiltJoachine J. Falque House is built
- 1895Post officeThe Kolberg post office opens
- 20th century
- 1907
In the archiveEarly in the Morning at C.R. Guth's Store and Creamery, Kolberg, Door County, Wisconsin - 1907Post officeThe Tornado post office closes
- 1907Post officeThe Kolberg post office closes
- 1910BuiltJoint Brussels and Garner Dristrict School Number One is built
- 1914
In the archiveBrussel House in Brussels Wisconsin 1914 - 1921BuiltJoseph Monfils Farmstead is built
- 1921BuiltLouis Vangindertahlen House is built
- 1952
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1979Born hereAl Johnson is born here
- 1980Born hereBen Johnson is born here
By decade
Brussels, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s–1910s2 items
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your albumToday12 recent
2020Aerial view of Rosiere in the southwestern town of Br…
2020Aerial view of Namur and vicinity in eastern town of …
2014Brussels Wisconsin main intersection looking east for…
2014Brussels Wisconsin Sign looking east former 57
2014Brussels Wisconsin Post Office 54204
2014Brussels Town Park
2011BrusselsWisconsinSignFormerWIS57
2011BrusselsWisconsinDowntownWestFormerWIS57
2011BrusselsWisconsinDowntownSouth
2009Rosiere Wind Farm
2008BrusselsWisconsinWIS57
2003Walloon Giants Belgian Day WisconsinOn the map
Brussels on the map, 1952 to 1984
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brussels. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1952Casco sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brussels.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewEarly in the Morning at C.R. Guth's Store and Creamery, Kolberg, Door County, Wisconsin, c. 1907
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Brussels’ page.
Retake this view · +15Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Brussels
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Brussels’ history
What year was Brussels founded?
The Brussels post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Brussels rank for history?
Brussels is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. 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.
What is on the National Register in Brussels?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the J.B. Bouche House (listed 2004, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Brussels?
31% of Brussels’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1972.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (14), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.