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BHistory
History · Cudahy

Cudahy’s post office opened in 1893, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #145 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Cudahy Chicago and North Western Railway Depot and the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church Complex. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1900.

1893first post office
2on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
6famous people
Quick answers

How Cudahy began

When was Cudahy founded?

1893

The Cudahy post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,366 in 19002020 census: 18,204133 years

How historic is Cudahy?

B

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Cudahy’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cudahy is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #145 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cudahy’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 64%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 60%

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 Cudahy’s 2.2 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 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 Cudahy’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cudahy’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
On the map

Cudahy on the map, 1891 to 1971

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

Cudahy on the 1891 USGS mapCudahy on the 1901 USGS mapCudahy on the 1958 USGS mapCudahy on the 1971 USGS map1891Bayview 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 Cudahy.

The story

How Cudahy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cudahy.

Read it all →

Originally known as the Buckhorn Settlement, it was renamed in the late 1800s when Patrick Cudahy purchased 700 acres (280 ha) of land in the Town of Lake, two miles (three kilometers) from the Milwaukee city limits, to build his meatpacking plant. The first village president was elected in 1895, and by 1906 Cudahy was incorporated as a city with a population of 2,556.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cudahy, 1891 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1893Post officeThe Cudahy post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1926Born hereFrank Kosikowski is born here
  6. 1949Born hereJim Miklaszewski is born here
  7. 1959Born herePeter Knezic is born here
  8. 1975Born hereJosh Provan is born here
By decade

Cudahy, decade by decade

On the National Register

2 historic places in Cudahy

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2013
Cudahy Chicago and North Western Railway Depot
All 2 listings

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

People over time

Cudahy, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 22,078

Between 1,366 and 22,078 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Cudahy

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Cudahy’s post office has been open since 1893.

Gone or out of use
Trinity Hospitalhospital
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cudahy
Agudas AchimHoly Sepulcher

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.

Questions about Cudahy’s history

What year was Cudahy founded?

The Cudahy post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Cudahy rank for history?

Cudahy is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #145 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Cudahy?

Two places: the Cudahy Chicago and North Western Railway Depot (listed 2013) and the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church Complex (2021).

How old are the homes in Cudahy?

22% of Cudahy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1962.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.