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C+History
History · Eagle

Eagle’s post office opened in 1852, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1892 on.

1852first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
3famous people
From Eagle’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Eagle began

When was Eagle founded?

1852

The Eagle post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,071174 years

How historic is Eagle?

C+

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Eagle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Eagle’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eagle is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. 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 Eagle’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 39%
NewerOlder

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 Eagle’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 (±3.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Eagle’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Eagle’s collection

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

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

How Eagle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Eagle.

Read it all →

The town's name comes from an 1836 incident when pioneer Thomas Sugden and two companions, exploring the area, spotted what was described as "a monster bald-headed eagle... hovering and curving over a large mound" in the midst of the prairie. Eagle was the site where the Eagle Diamond was found in 1876.

The village was struck by an EF2 tornado on the night of June 21, 2010. Tornado alert sirens in the area failed to sound prior to the strike. There were no fatalities, but there were several minor injuries. At least 2 homes were leveled to the ground by the tornado and several other homes had major damage.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Eagle, 1852 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Eagle post office opens
  3. 1880Born hereArthur Cory is born here
  4. 1892In the archiveFMIB 39533 Western face of the kettle-moraine, near
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901Born hereJohn Charles Brophy is born here
  7. 1936Born hereRaymond L. Erikson is born here
  8. 1980In the archiveHistoric interpreter harvesting radishes at Old World Wisconsin, the state historical soc…
By decade

Eagle, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1970snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

FMIB 39533 Western face of the kettle-moraine, near
Retake this viewFMIB 39533 Western face of the kettle-moraine, near, 1892

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Eagle’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Eagle

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Questions about Eagle’s history

What year was Eagle founded?

The Eagle post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Eagle rank for history?

Eagle is more historic than 39% 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.

How old are the homes in Eagle?

19% of Eagle’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 1984.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.