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History · Cable

Cable’s post office opened in 1882, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Forest Lodge Library.

1882first post office
1on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cable began

When was Cable founded?

1882

The Cable post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Leonard (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 853144 years
Founding year: the first Cable post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cable’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 Cable are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cable’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cable’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Cable, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cable yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cable is a town in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 853 at the 2020 census, up from 825 at the 2010 U.S. census. The census-designated place of Cable and the unincorporated communities of Leonards and Radspur are located in the town. Telemark Lodge, a ski resort, was located in the town. Today the grounds are occupied by the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 825 to 853 (+3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cable, 1882 to 1926

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Cable post office opens
  3. 1899Post officeThe Leonard post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Post officeThe Leonard post office closes
  6. 1926BuiltForest Lodge Library is built
By decade

Cable, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Cystoderma granosum (Morgan) A.H. Sm. & Singer 8232302017Cystoderma granosum (Morgan) A.H. Sm. & Singer 823230Cystoderma granosum (Morgan) A.H. Sm. & Singer 8232022017Cystoderma granosum (Morgan) A.H. Sm. & Singer 823202Cystoderma granosum (Morgan) A.H. Sm. & Singer 8232012017Cystoderma granosum (Morgan) A.H. Sm. & Singer 823201NPS namekagon-river-map-1-namekagon-dam2016NPS namekagon-river-map-1-namekagon-damMapWIMap-doton-Cable2004WIMap-doton-Cable
On the National Register

1 historic place in Cable

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Forest Lodge Library
Forest Lodge Library, built 1926
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Forest Lodge LibraryLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1926

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Cable

Nobody well known was born in Cable itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Sean DuffyAmerican politician, former sports commentator … · b. 1971
D
Dan PlanteAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1971
Thorvald A. SolbergUnited States Navy admiral · b. 1894
J. R. SalzmanRecipient of the Purple Heart medal · b. 1979
W
William W. McCutcheonAmerican politician from Minnesota · b. 1926
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Cable’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Leonard, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cable
1882–today
Leonard
1899–1905
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LeonardsRadspur
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cable
GreenwoodSaint Anne

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

DrummondIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBarnes1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpider Lake1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLenrootIts storyDNamakagon1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cable’s history

What year was Cable founded?

The Cable post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cable?

One place: the Forest Lodge Library (listed 2001).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.