The Cross post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bohri (1890) and Doelle (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 368154 years
Founding year: the first Cross post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Cross’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Cross had its own post office from 1872 to 1890. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cross
1872–1890
Bohri
1890–1901
Doelle
1890–1907
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bohri
Gone or out of use
Bohris Valley SchoolschoolCross SchoolschoolDoelle SchoolschoolDooney Sidinglocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cross
Bohris ValleyEagle Valley
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Cross, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cross yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cross is a town in Buffalo County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 368 at the 2020 census. The ghost town of Bohri was located in the town. Cross is located in southern Buffalo County and is bordered by Trempealeau County to the east. The city of Fountain City touches the town's southwestern corner. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 37.7 square miles (97.7 km2), of which 37.5 square miles (97.2 km2) is land and 0.15 square miles (0.4 km2), or 0.44%, is water.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 377 to 368 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Cross in 1888
Passages that mention Cross, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin1888 · page 629Read the page →
Read the text
are, Buehler's, Barths's Grover's etc. The soil in these valleys is rich black loam, on the bluffs it is more clayey, Peter Schank is considered the first settler within the limits of the present town of Cross and also the first farmer in the county, having settled on his farm in 1850, remaining for three years without a neighbor. In spring 1853 Andrew Baertsch settled in the town where he yet lives, the oldest in regard to settlement, of any man now living in the county, having come in 1847- In 1853, Philipp Menzemer
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin1888 · page 316Read the page →
Read the text
to the one next adjacent, is clearly demonstrated. The SW i of SW i of Section 7 Township 19 Range IQ, apd the South Half of SE } and SE i of SW i of Section 12 Township 19 Range 11 were detached from the town of Cross, and annexed to that of Buffalo. The NE i of Section l6 and the Sputh Half of SE i of Section 9 Township 20 Range 11 was detached from the town of Waumandee and annexed to that of Cross. Also the West Half of SE i of Section 4 Township 19 Range 11 from the town of Cross to that
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
Cross, 1872 to 1973
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 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.
