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–Not graded
History · Eaton

25% of Eaton’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1953 on.

0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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

Start Eaton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Eaton’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

How Eaton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Eaton.

Read it all →

The outline of the six mile square that would become Eaton was first surveyed in June 1847 by a crew working for the U.S. government. Then in October and November of the same year the same crew marked all the section corners in the township, walking through the woods and swamps, measuring with chain and compass. The survey produced a map which shows a "Waggon Road" winding east of the Black River and sites of four cabins along the river, including "Vanduser's cabin," along with Vanduser's millsite near the future site of Greenwood. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.
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On the map

Eaton on the map, 1953 to 1979

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

Eaton on the 1953 USGS mapEaton on the 1979 USGS map1953Neillsville 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 Eaton.

Famous people

Famous people close to Eaton

Nobody well known was born in Eaton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Virginia SatirAmerican psychotherapist & non-fiction author · b. 1916
Dave DudleyAmerican musician · b. 1928
George Washington BlanchardAmerican politician · b. 1884
J
Jerome P. TheisenAmerican Benedictine monk · b. 1930
Mary LazichAmerican politician · b. 1952
Michael PhairCanadian politician · b. 1950
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Eaton Center SchoolschoolJanesville SchoolschoolProsperity SchoolschoolWest Eaton Schoolschool

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.

Greenwood1 historic placeBLoyalIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHendrenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWarnerIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Eaton’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.