Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1890.
Camp Douglas dates its founding to 1870 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Camp Douglas. 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 Camp Douglas.
From Wikipedia’s history of Camp Douglas.
Camp Douglas was laid out in 1870. The village was named after a logging camp established by James Douglas, which brought wood to steam locomotives. A post office called Camp Douglas has been in operation since 1873.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveCamp Douglas, approaching the camp
In the archiveCamp Douglas, Wis
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Camp Douglas’ page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 225 people in 1890 to 647 in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Camp Douglas’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Camp Douglas itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1870, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Camp Douglas’ post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1890 counted 225 people here.
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 the Library of Congress (6), 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.
1880
1898
1898
1898