Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1954 on.
The Cato post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Clark's Mills (1855), Grimms (1874) and Jerpen (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cato is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Cato’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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.
Cato had its own post office from 1870 to 1992. Three 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Cato.
A post office called Cato was established in 1870, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1998. The town was named after Cato, New York, the former hometown of an early settler.
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.
Born hereThorstein Veblen is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveANGLE VIEW, FACING NORTHEAST. - Reitmeyer Tavern, 13840 U.S. Highway 10One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1993ANGLE VIEW, FACING NORTHEAST. - Reitmeyer Tavern, 138…
1993ANGLE VIEW, FACING NORTHWEST - Reitmeyer Tavern, 1384…
1993DETAIL OF FRONT PORCH, FACING EAST - Cato Post Office…
1993DISTANT ANGLE VIEW, FACING NORTHEAST - Cato Post Offi…
1993DISTANT ANGLE VIEW, FACING NORTHWEST - Cato Post Offi…
1993INTERIOR VIEW, FACING SOUTH - Reitmeyer Tavern, 13840…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cato. 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 Cato.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Cato post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Cato is more historic than 49% 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.
30% of Cato’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
