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B−History
History · Cornell

Cornell’s post office opened in 1903, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Cornell Pulpwood Stacker. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1920.

1903first post office
1on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cornell’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cornell began

When was Cornell founded?

1903

The Cornell post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,337 in 19202020 census: 1,453123 years

How historic is Cornell?

B−

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Cornell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cornell’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cornell is more historic than 50% 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 Cornell’s overall grade.
Founding era1903, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194025.2% of homes (±6.2) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 7.7 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%
NewerOlder

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 Cornell’s 7.7 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 A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 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 Cornell’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,944 in 1950; 1,453 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cornell’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMona Lisa barn art, Wisconsin: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Cornell, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,944

Peaked at 1,944 in 1950; 1,453 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Cornell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cornell.

Read it all →

The Cornell area was long visited by Sioux and Chippewa people passing up and down the Chippewa River.

The early white settlement was called Brunet Falls, named for Jean Brunet, who opened a trading post in the area in 1843. Brunet was a French-born American who served in the U.S. Army and led the building in 1836 of the first dam and sawmill in the then-wilderness at Chippewa Falls. After that he moved up the river another 30 miles and built a log cabin a mile below what would become Cornell on the west bank of the river. From his log cabin he ran a trading post that initially served Indians, and later grew into a stopping place (inn) for loggers and traders heading upriver.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cornell, 1903 to 1990

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Cornell post office opens
  3. 1911BuiltCornell Pulpwood Stacker is built
  4. 1936Born hereRoger D. Craig is born here
  5. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 1,944
  6. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1990In the archiveMona Lisa barn art, Wisconsin
By decade

Cornell, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
Mona Lisa barn art, Wisconsin1990Mona Lisa barn art, Wisconsin
Date unknown1 to date
Bert Parsons Bridge, Spanning Fisher River at West Fisher DriveDate?Bert Parsons Bridge, Spanning Fisher River at West Fi…
Today8 recent
Cornell, Wisconsin2024Cornell, WisconsinCornell, Wisconsin-22024Cornell, Wisconsin-2Cornell, Wisconsin City Hall2024Cornell, Wisconsin City HallCornell, Wisconsin 22024Cornell, Wisconsin 2Cornell Pulpwood Stacker 22024Cornell Pulpwood Stacker 2Cornell High School2024Cornell High SchoolCornell High School-22024Cornell High School-2Downtown2018Downtown
On the map

Cornell on the map, 1951 to 1980

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

Cornell on the 1951 USGS mapCornell on the 1973 USGS mapCornell on the 1980 USGS map1951Cornell sheet · 1:62,500

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bert Parsons Bridge, Spanning Fisher River at West Fisher Drive
Retake this viewBert Parsons Bridge, Spanning Fisher River at West Fisher Drive

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cornell’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Cornell

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Cornell Pulpwood Stacker
Cornell Pulpwood Stacker, built 1911
Structures
Cornell Pulpwood StackerBuilt 1911

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

EstellaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClevelandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cornell’s history

What year was Cornell founded?

The Cornell post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Cornell rank for history?

Cornell is more historic than 50% 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 Cornell?

One place: the Cornell Pulpwood Stacker (listed 1993).

How old are the homes in Cornell?

25% of Cornell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1965.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (2), 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) 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.