The story
Read it all →How Burnett came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Burnett.
The town was named for Ellsworth Burnett(e), a government surveyor who was killed by Indians in November 1835.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Burnett
Burnett’s post office opened in 1847, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Willard Greenfield Farmstead. Below: maps from 1955 on.
1847first post office
1on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Quick answers
How Burnett began
When was Burnett founded?
1847
The Burnett post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Burnett Corners (1849), Rolling Prairie (1856) and Burnett Station (1861), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 831179 years
Founding year: the first Burnett post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Burnett’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Burnett are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Burnett, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Burnett’s homes were built before 1952.Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Burnett.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Burnett’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burnett’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 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
Burnett had its own post office from 1847 to 1892. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Burnett
Burnett Corners
Rolling Prairie
Burnett Station
Burnett Junction
Burnett
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Rolling Prairie
Gone or out of use
Liberty Bell SchoolschoolRolling Prairie SchoolschoolUnion Dairy Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Burnett
Burnett UnionStone
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Burnett, 1844 to 1955
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1844Born hereCharles Williams is born here
- 1847Post officeThe Burnett post office opens
- 1849Post officeThe Burnett Corners post office opens
- 1851Post officeThe Burnett Corners post office closes
- 1856Post officeThe Rolling Prairie post office opens
- 1858
Born hereFrederic George Young is born here - 1865Born hereLillian Heath is born here
- 1892Post officeThe Burnett post office closes
- 20th century
- 1933Born hereDon Peachey is born here
- 1951Post officeThe Rolling Prairie post office closes
- 1955
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Burnett, decade by decade
2014
2014
2010
2010
2009
2007
2004On the map
Burnett on the map, 1955 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Burnett. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1955Waupun 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 Burnett.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Burnett
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Willard Greenfield Farmstead
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Greek Revival1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Burnett
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 Burnett’s history
What year was Burnett founded?
The Burnett post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Burnett?
One place: the Willard Greenfield Farmstead (listed 1992).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.