Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1893 on and old-book passages.
The Decatur post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Decatur is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Decatur’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Decatur’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Decatur. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Decatur.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Decatur yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Decatur is a town in Green County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,685 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1842. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,767 to 1,685 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Decatur, cut from the printed page as they were published.
his father, John Bowen, removed with his family to Johnson Co., Iowa, where he died the same season. His mother with family came immediately afterward to the town of Decatur, this county, where her brother, Thomas Stewart, then lived. Jared I. did not accompany the family to Iowa, but learning of the death of his father and of the removal of the family to
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Decatur was organized in 1849. The first election was held at the school house, near William Jones' residence, on the 3d of April, 1849. At that time the following town officers were elected : Supervisors, George Gardner, chairman. Fitch Armstrong and Horace Countryman ; clerk, Martin Mitchell ; treasurer, Roswell D. Bigelow ; asse'Ssor, Perry
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
To Decatur belongs the honor of having the first bridge in the county. It was built in 1842, a little northeast of the site of the village of Decatur, at the place where the river was crossed by the Indian trail from Sand Prairie to the northern part of the county, and by the territorial road from Janesville to Galena. The next settler, Win. Jones, came in 1842. Soon after his arrival he built on Sugar river, section fifteen, the first
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of Decatur, to which reference has once or twice been made, was laid out in the spring of 1848, by Mr. Wm. Jones. He had, himself, built the first dwelling there, and he now built the first hotel. A few years later, Mr. I. F. Mack bought the greater part of the village, and, as the Decatur plat had never been recorded, he platted eighty acres and had it recorded as Floraville, the name being a compliment to his mother-in-law, and,
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Decatur itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Decatur had its own post office from 1842 to 1859.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Decatur post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Decatur is more historic than 51% 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.
11% of Decatur’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1987.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
