The Cashton post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mount Pisgah (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 45 in 18802020 census: 1,158146 years
How historic is Cashton?
B
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cashton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cashton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cashton is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cashton’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 Cashton’s 7.8 sits above most of its state (71% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.3 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 Cashton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The settlement began in 1854 when Thompson Hazen established an inn at a nearby bend in the stagecoach road from Prairie du Chien to Black River Falls, Wisconsin. The location was then known as Hazen's Corners. In 1879, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad built a branch line from Sparta to Viroqua, Wisconsin through the area, drawing additional settlers. The same year, local merchant William H. H. Cash spearheaded construction of a railroad depot and had the village platted, renaming it Cashton.
The rural area around Cashton began to attract many Amish farmers in the late 1960s, and it is now the largest Amish settlement in Wisconsin.
Passages that mention Cashton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monroe County Wisconsin1912 · page 792Read the page →
Read the text
Besides the 215-acre farm which he owns, he purchased in 1906 another farm adjacent to the village of Cashton, which he disposed of in 1907. He also owns considerable property in Cashton. In 1911 he went into the automobile business and now eonduets a large garage where he does all kinds of automobile repairing and handles the sale of the Jackson automobile, and is doing a splendid business in this line.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present1912 · page 399Read the page →
Read the text
retary, John King ; treasurer, John Konper ; trustees, J. W. Wagner, G. V. Hargrave and P. E. Nelson. On May 31, 1892, the water association voted to turn over its property to the village of Cashton, which was incorporated June, 1892. An election having been previously held to determine the question, which result was a vote of fifty-five for and ten against it.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monroe County Wisconsin1912 · page 409Read the page →
Read the text
retary, John King; treasurer, John Konper; trustees, J. W. Wagner, G. V. Hargrave and P. E. Nelson. On May 31, 1892, the water association voted to turn over its property to the village of Cashton, which was incorporated June, 1892. An election having been previously held to determine the question, which result was a vote of fifty-five for and ten against it.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present1912 · page 667Read the page →
Read the text
He then purchased a farm of 160 acres in section thirty-six, town of Portland, near the village of Cashton, on which he has made many improvements and since resided. In 1898 he built his modern residence and substantial outbuildings ; in 1912 he erected a large and commodious barn, 36x80 feet, with 16-foot posts and basement 8 feet high, sheeted with oak, covered with galvanized iron, accommodating thirty head of cattle and six horses, and he will soon build a large silo in connection. This is
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.
Timeline
Cashton, 1856 to 1983
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Cashton post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cashton rank for history?
Cashton is more historic than 59% 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 Cashton?
One place: the Albert and Theresa Marx House (listed 2007).
How old are the homes in Cashton?
19% of Cashton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (7), 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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