On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Easton is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Easton’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 Easton’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Easton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Easton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1899Wausau sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Easton.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Johnson
1894–1905
Sunset
1899–1901
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
JohnsonKalinke
Gone or out of use
Barstow SchoolschoolDewey SchoolschoolEaston Center SchoolschoolFarrell SchoolschoolForestville SchoolschoolSunrise Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Easton
BethanyForestvilleZions
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Easton, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Easton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Easton is a town in northeastern Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,148 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Johnson and Kalinke are located in the town. The unincorporated community of Sunset is also located partially in the town.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,111 to 1,148 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Easton in 1913
Passages that mention Easton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 151Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Easton was created in the March, 1865, meeting of the board of supervisors; the town of Main established in 1866, and the town of Wien in 1867. A good bridge was built across the Wisconsin river at the falls in 1866 by Adam Young and J. Dern, resting on a substantial pier, with a roof over the bridge, in old-country fashion.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 266Read the page →
Read the text
side through the town of Main to Berlin, the Whiskey road, so-called, Ijranching off from the Jenny road at the three-mile boom, a corderoy road across the marsh at the head of Jackson street and slanting up east hill to the settlement in Wausau and Easton; the town line road to Eau Clair and Hogarthy, the south line road to Mosinee, and a road branching off at Scholfield to the Kelly mills. No other streets except on the original plat had been platted, and only half of them were worked; for instance. Fourth street east of the court house had only a wagon track winding around the stumps.
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
Easton, 1894 to 1905
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Easton is more historic than 55% 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 Easton?
26% of Easton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 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.
