Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #261 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Most of Caledonia was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the John Collins House. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1980.
The Caledonia post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, Thompsonville (1850), Lamberton (1856) and Tabor (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Caledonia is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #261 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Caledonia’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Caledonia had its own post office from 1850 to 1864. Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Caledonia’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Caledonia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Caledonia.
From Wikipedia’s history of Caledonia.
Prior to January 2006, Caledonia was a town. After the state government denied Caledonia's request to become a village, the state legislature enacted a special exemption, allowing Caledonia to proceed. A referendum in 2005 allowed Caledonia to become a village.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Caledonia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
lands lying north of the city, neai' Ives, in the town of Caledonia. They were followed by other men, who were evidently engineers of considerable authority, who checked over the work of their advance guard, and made inquiries regarding railroad facilities, labor market, water supply, and other matters. They presented credentials to Secretary Walter H.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltJohn Collins House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 20,940 and 25,361 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Caledonia’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Caledonia post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Caledonia is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #261 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.
One place: the John Collins House (listed 1974).
5% of Caledonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1978.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.
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