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History · Coleman

Coleman’s post office opened in 1883, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Coleman began

When was Coleman founded?

1883

The Coleman post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 436 in 19102020 census: 726143 years
Founding year: the first Coleman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Coleman’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Coleman are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then more than doubled.Old housesHalf of Coleman’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coleman’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coleman’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Coleman, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020436 in 1910Low: 305

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then more than doubled.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coleman’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Coleman, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Coleman yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Coleman is a village in Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 726 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Marinette, WI–MI Micropolitan Statistical Area. In 1882, a railroad track was laid between Coleman and Pound, Wisconsin. The tracks were later extended in 1884 to Crivitz, Wisconsin and Marinette, Wisconsin, bringing many more goods and settlers. Logging was the predominant industry in the area from the 1880s and 1910s.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 724 in 2010, 726 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Coleman, 1883 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Coleman post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1952Born hereJeff VanVonderen is born here
  5. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 852
By decade

Coleman, decade by decade

Today5 recent
ELS 501 12021ELS 501 1ColemanWisconsinSign2020ColemanWisconsinSignColemanWisconsinPostOffice2020ColemanWisconsinPostOfficeColemanWisconsinMunicipalBuilding2020ColemanWisconsinMunicipalBuildingColemanWisconsinDowntown2020ColemanWisconsinDowntown
On the map

Coleman on the map, 1973 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coleman. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Coleman on the 1973 USGS mapColeman on the 1990 USGS map1973Coleman sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coleman.

Questions about Coleman’s history

What year was Coleman founded?

The Coleman post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (5), 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) 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.