Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Burns post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Burns’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Burns.
The community was named after Timothy Burns, a member of the Wisconsin Assembly and the third Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, who played a part in promoting the area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Burns, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In April of this year, B. F. Colburn identified himself with tlie county, coming from Massachusetts fur that purpose, and locating in the present township of Burns, where he entered IGO acres of land, atid planted five acres to corn and potatoes. In the summer following, a party of Swiss, who had previously settled in Sauk County, changed their base by removing to La Crosse, and established themselves in the section of the county now comprehended within the limits of ]-i:iiigor Township. Among those who came in first were Jose]ih Wolf, John Bosshard, Florian Ready, Christian Reudy, Michael Darms and Joseph Summerson, a portion of whom settled on Dutch Creek, tlie remainder in nearer proximity
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Burns itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Burns had its own post office from 1854 to 1900.
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 Burns post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, 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.