Founding year: the first Denmark post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1915.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Denmark’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Denmark is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #243 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Denmark’s overall grade.
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 Denmark’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1915.
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 →
In 1846, a Prussian immigrant, John Herbes, purchased 40 acres of land in the area of what is now Denmark.
In 1848, the second settler, and the first Danish immigrant, a man named Niels Gotfredsen, bought 160 acres in the area. He and his wife were referred to as the 'King and Queen of Denmark', because they were the first Danish settlers of the town of Denmark.
In 1854, the residents of Brown County, Wisconsin voted on whether Green Bay or De Pere would be the county seat. This was also the year that the residents of Denmark wanted to build a church, but they did not have any money. A man from De Pere came to the town, and offered to pay two dollars for every vote the people of Denmark would cast in favor of De Pere.
Passages that mention Denmark, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present1913 · page 492Read the page →
Read the text
advantages along this line were limited, for he was obliged to walk two miles to the schoolhouse and he worked upon the farm when not engaged with his books. His childhood was spent amid scenes of pioneer settlement for his father came to New Denmark at a time when the district was but slightly developed and most of the land was covered with heavy timber in which a great deal of wild game could be found. When he grew older Peter Olsen went to Michigan, where he spent three years working in the mines, returning at the end of that time and settling upon his father's
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
Denmark, 1857 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Denmark post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1915.
How does Denmark rank for history?
Denmark is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #243 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.
How old are the homes in Denmark?
20% of Denmark’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (6), 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), 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.
1917
1917
1917
1917
1917
