Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Ingebretson, Gaute, Loft House and the West School. Below: maps from 1890 on and old-book passages.
The Dunkirk post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hanerville (1865), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dunkirk is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Dunkirk’s 13.3 sits above most of its state (79% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Dunkirk’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dunkirk. 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 Dunkirk.
Dunkirk had its own post office from 1847 to 1872. Another post office, Hanerville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dunkirk yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1847. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,945 to 1,881 (-3%).
Passages that mention Dunkirk, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Dunkirk, located on the south side of the Yahara, on Sections 20 and 21, is a small place, having a grist-mill and blacksmith-shop. In the northern part of the town, is a large Norwegian settlement. There is but one post office in the town, it is called Hanerville, situated on the east side of the Prairie du Chien Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, on Section 26. There is one small lake in the town, on Sections 18 and 19. The railroad just mentioned enters, the town on Section 25, and, taking a northwest course through Stoughton, leaves it from Section 5. The town has now 1,283 inhabitants.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
C. J. THORSNES, Register of Deeds; born in Norway, Oct. 18, 1840. Came to Dunkirk, Dane Co., Wis., with his parents, in August, 1849. Lived in the town of Dunkirk (on Sec. 16) for several years, then moved to the town of Vienna, in this county, where he was engaged in farming until 1867.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of Dunkirk, three miles from Stoughton, is a small place on the edge of the Catfish, on section 21, and has a grist mill and blacksmith shop.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltIngebretson, Gaute, Loft House is built
Born hereElla Giles Ruddy is born here
BuiltWest School is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRobert D. Sundby is born hereWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dunkirk post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Dunkirk is more historic than 86% 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.
Two places: the Ingebretson, Gaute, Loft House (listed 1987) and the West School (1992).
24% of Dunkirk’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 1969.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
