Most of Butler was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Its Register listing is the George Lawrence Jr. Clarke House. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1920.
The Butler post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, New Butler (1913), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 564 in 19202020 census: 1,787113 years
How historic is Butler?
C
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Butler post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Butler’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Butler is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Butler’s overall grade.
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 Butler’s 10.8 sits above most of its state (78% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 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 Butler’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The village of Butler exists due to the railroad. It began in the season of fall in 1909, when people from the Milwaukee, Sparta, and North Western Railway (a division of the Chicago and North Western Railway) visited farmers living on the eastern area of 124th Street and bought their land to start railroad yards around the City of Milwaukee to relieve congestion in the downtown rail yards. These railroad yards were called "New Butler". Butler was probably named for William Butler, a large property owner in the area who had emigrated from England in the mid-1840s. In 1911, the settlement of "New Butler" was started within Waukesha County, Wisconsin. This community was started by railroad workers and their families and was incorporated with 200 people on May 5, 1913, from what land that was previously parts of the towns of Brookfield and Menomonee. The village grew as more railroad activ…
The Butler post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Butler rank for history?
Butler is more historic than 34% 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 Butler?
One place: the George Lawrence Jr. Clarke House (listed 1995).
How old are the homes in Butler?
8% of Butler’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
