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–Not graded
History · Doylestown

Doylestown’s post office opened in 1865, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1870.

1865first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Downspec · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Doylestown began

When was Doylestown founded?

1865

The Doylestown post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 100 in 18702020 census: 280161 years
Founding year: the first Doylestown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Doylestown’s 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 Doylestown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Doylestown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Doylestown, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Doylestown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Doylestown is a village in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 280 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1865. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 297 to 280 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Doylestown, 1880–1914

Passages that mention Doylestown, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The Columbus Democrat, under date of March 22, 1872, thus speaks of Doylestown : " In 1848, Owen Kincaid entered a tract of land about ten miles west of Columbus (it is now owned by H. A. Whitney) and is not far from the station and village of Doylestown, and was the first entry in that vicinity. D…
The history of Columbia county, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement ..1880 · page 840Read the page →
Read the text

The Columbus Democrat, under date of March 22, 1872, thus speaks of Doylestown : " In 1848, Owen Kincaid entered a tract of land about ten miles west of Columbus (it is now owned by H. A. Whitney) and is not far from the station and village of Doylestown, and was the first entry in that vicinity. Daniel James was the first settler adjacent to the present

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
town. This was the first entry in the vicinity, and Daniel James was the first who settled adjacent to the site of the village. In 1849-50, Damon C. Starr and Eason Starr purchased land on which was afterward platted the Village of Doylestown. Town op Otsego Organized At a meeting of the county com…
A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin1914 · page 375Read the page →
Read the text

town. This was the first entry in the vicinity, and Daniel James was the first who settled adjacent to the site of the village. In 1849-50, Damon C. Starr and Eason Starr purchased land on which was afterward platted the Village of Doylestown. Town op Otsego Organized At a meeting of the county commissioners held in January, 1849 all of Township 11, Range 11, was organized into a town to which was given the name of Otsego, as many of the early settlers came from

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Passage from A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin that mentions Doylestown
A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin1914Read the page →

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Doylestown, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Sunrise Silhouette Panorama2017Sunrise Silhouette PanoramaDoylestown Wisconsin Post Office12016Doylestown Wisconsin Post Office1Doylestown Wisconsin Municipal Building2016Doylestown Wisconsin Municipal BuildingDoylestown Wisconsin Fire Department2016Doylestown Wisconsin Fire DepartmentDoylestown Municipal Building Up Close2016Doylestown Municipal Building Up Close
On the map

Doylestown on the map, 1955 to 1980

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

Doylestown on the 1955 USGS mapDoylestown on the 1980 USGS map1955Columbus 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 Doylestown.

People over time

Doylestown, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 328

Between 100 and 328 people in every census since 1870.

14 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

OtsegoIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Doylestown’s history

What year was Doylestown founded?

The Doylestown post office opened in 1865, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.