The Chimney Rock post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Russell (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 258155 years
Founding year: the first Chimney Rock post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Chimney Rock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chimney Rock yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Chimney Rock is a town in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 258 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Russell is located in the town.
Its first post office opened in 1871. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 241 to 258 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Chimney Rock in 1917
Passages that mention Chimney Rock, cut from the printed page as they were published.
in 1856 settled near the mouth of Elk Creek, and here he has since continued to be a leading citizen. George H. Markham was the first town clerk of the town of Burnside, which then included the present territory of the village of Independence and the town of Chimney Rock, and served as treasurer of the town of Burnside and later as treasurer of the village from its incorporation in 1886 for 30 years or more. He represented Trempealeau County in the Assembly during the 1879 session of the State Legislature and also served his town as member of the county board when the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin1917 · page 114Read the page →
Read the text
1875, the first meeting in Pigeon was held on the same date, the first meeting in Unity was held in April, 1878, at the schoolhouse in Section 22, Township 24, Range 8, and the first meeting in Chimney Rock was held at the schoolhouse in Section 11, Township 23, Range 9, in April, 1882. The question of the division of Lincoln and the creation of Pigeon was submitted to the voters, the only instance in the history of the county where such a provision was made.
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
Chimney Rock, 1871 to 1926
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
2016
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