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History · Draper

Draper’s post office opened in 1906, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Draper began

When was Draper founded?

1906

The Draper post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Loretta (1927), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 241120 years
Founding year: the first Draper post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Draper’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Draper’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
The story so far

Draper, in brief

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

Draper is a town in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 241 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Draper, Loretta, and Oxbo are located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1906. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 204 to 241 (+18%).

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

Timeline

Draper, 1906 to 1983

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Draper post office opens
  3. 1927Post officeThe Loretta post office opens
  4. 1935Post officeThe Draper post office closes
  5. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1983Post officeThe Loretta post office closes
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Draper on the map, 1971 to 2005

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

Draper on the 1971 USGS mapDraper on the 2005 USGS map1971Loretta sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Draper.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Draper had its own post office from 1906 to 1935. Another post office, Loretta, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Draper
1906–1935
Loretta
1927–1983
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LorettaOxbo
Gone or out of use
Newald CamplocaleOld Koshack CamplocaleOld LeMay Camplocale
1cemetery inside Draper
Loretta

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

WinterIts storyCLakeIts storyCChippewaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFlambeauIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Draper’s history

What year was Draper founded?

The Draper post office opened in 1906, 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.