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History · Commonwealth

Commonwealth’s post office opened in 1880, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Commonwealth began

When was Commonwealth founded?

1880

The Commonwealth post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 895 in 18902020 census: 390146 years
Founding year: the first Commonwealth post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Commonwealth’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 Commonwealth are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1930, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Commonwealth’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Commonwealth’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

Commonwealth, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020895 in 1890Low: 182

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1930, then more than doubled.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story so far

Commonwealth, in brief

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

Commonwealth is a town in Florence County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 390 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Commonwealth is located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 399 to 390 (-2%).

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

Timeline

Commonwealth, 1880 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Commonwealth post office opens
  3. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 895
  4. 20th century
  5. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1953Post officeThe Commonwealth post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Commonwealth on the map, 1949 to 1991

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

Commonwealth on the 1949 USGS mapCommonwealth on the 1962 USGS mapCommonwealth on the 1991 USGS map1949Commonwealth 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 Commonwealth.

Famous people

Famous people close to Commonwealth

Nobody well known was born in Commonwealth itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Robert J. FlahertyAmerican documentary filmmaker · b. 1884
Delaney SchnellAmerican diver · b. 1998
Art Van DammeAmerican musician · b. 1920
N
Nita EnglundAmerican ski jumper · b. 1992
S
Scott BealAmerican actor and director · b. 1890
A
Anna DeForgeAmerican basketball player · b. 1976
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Commonwealth had its own post office from 1880 to 1953.

Commonwealth
1880–1953
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Pershing SchoolschoolRoach Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Commonwealth
Saint Marys

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Florence4 historic placesBFern1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHomesteadIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAuroraIts storyB−

Questions about Commonwealth’s history

What year was Commonwealth founded?

The Commonwealth post office opened in 1880, 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 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.