The story
Read it all →How Dayton came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Dayton.
The town was named for Lyman Dayton, a Connecticut native who moved to the area in 1850.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Dayton
11% of Dayton’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #77 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 35 buildings. Below: maps from 1969 on and old-book passages.
2on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Dayton’s history
How historic is Dayton?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Dayton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dayton is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #77 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dayton’s overall grade.
Founding eraWithout a firm founding date for Dayton, this grade rests on its old homes and Register listings–Homes built before 194010.9% of homes (±6.2) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register2 listings, 36 historic buildings, 137 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 81%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 79%
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 Dayton’s 137 sits above most of its state (96% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 36 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Dayton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Dayton, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Dayton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Rural on the Crystal Historic District takes in 35 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Crystal Lake
Nepawan
Rural
Parfreyville
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Chain O' LakesLittle HopeParfreyvilleRural
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dayton
Crystal LakePleasant ValleyRural
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Dayton’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dayton’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 National Register
2 listings protect 36 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
36
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Halfway House
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Italianate1
Greek Revival1
Gabled-Ell1
Front-Gabled1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Dayton in 1890
Passages that mention Dayton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Waupaca county, Wisconsin1890 · page 96Read the page →
Read the text
In treating the Town of Dayton we can not do better than to publish entire a sketch by J. Holman, written in 1876, as follows : ''At a meeting of the County Board held atMukwa, December 7, 1852, Township 21 north, of Range 11 east, was detached from the Town of Lind, and organized as a distinct town, to be called Dayton. It was the first single township in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Waupaca county, Wisconsin1890 · page 103Read the page →
Read the text
''In 1853 James A. Lathrop built a saw mill at Crystal River, which was operated until it had exhausted the pine that grew along the streams and lakes of Dayton and Farmington, and in the swamps of Lind. "In 1867, Lathrop & Palmer built a carding mill on the spot where the saw mill stood.
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
Dayton, 1852 to 1969
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1852
BuiltHalfway House is built - 1852Post officeThe Crystal Lake post office opens
- 1852Post officeThe Nepawan post office opens
- 1855Post officeThe Nepawan post office closes
- 1855Post officeThe Rural post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902Post officeThe Crystal Lake post office closes
- 1902Post officeThe Rural post office closes
- 1969
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Dayton, decade by decade
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2005On the map
Dayton on the map, 1969 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dayton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1969King sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dayton.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Dayton
Nobody well known was born in Dayton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
H
Henry Solomon WellcomeAnglo-American businessman · b. 1853E
Everett C. OlsonU.S. paleontologist, zoologist, and geologist · b. 1910
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Dayton’s history
How does Dayton rank for history?
Dayton is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #77 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 Dayton?
Two places: the Halfway House (listed 1982) and the Rural on the Crystal Historic District (1989).
How old are the homes in Dayton?
11% of Dayton’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 1985.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.