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–Not graded
History · Curtiss

Curtiss’ post office opened in 1882, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1920.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Curtiss began

When was Curtiss founded?

1882

The Curtiss post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 186 in 19202020 census: 292144 years
Founding year: the first Curtiss post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Curtiss’ 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 Curtiss are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1920 and 1980, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Curtiss’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Curtiss’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

Curtiss, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020186 in 1920Low: 127

Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1980, then more than doubled.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Curtiss came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Curtiss.

Read it all →

Curtiss was established as a rural railroad station in 1882 and is named after the chief engineer who built the railroad. The village of Curtiss was platted November 17, 1882, having been surveyed by Edwin Parks. The surrounding area was occupied primarily by Norwegian and German emigrants. The primary industries were dairy farming and lumber. By the 1890s, several cheese factories were established in the surrounding townships of Mayville, Hoard and Colby. Additionally, A. D. Bass operated a large sawmill in the southern part of the village. An application for incorporation of the village was made to the State of Wisconsin on October 14, 1914: however, actual incorporation was not granted until March 30, 1917 (Curtiss Centennial Booklet). A two-room school served elementary grades until 1966 when the school was consolidated with the nearby Abbotsford Public Schools.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Curtiss, 1882 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Curtiss post office opens
  3. 1891Born herePhilip Nelson is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 21st century
  7. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 292
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.
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On the map

Curtiss on the map, 1963 to 1981

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

Curtiss on the 1963 USGS mapCurtiss on the 1981 USGS map1963Abbotsford 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 Curtiss.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

MayvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoardIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreen GroveIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Curtiss’ history

What year was Curtiss founded?

The Curtiss post office opened in 1882, 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 →
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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 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.