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History · El Paso

El Paso’s post office opened in 1858, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1949 on.

1858first post office
0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How El Paso began

When was El Paso founded?

1858

The El Paso post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lost Creek (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 724168 years
Founding year: the first El Paso post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start El Paso’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how El Paso’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

El Paso, in brief

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

El Paso EL PASS-oh) is a town in Pierce County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 724 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of El Paso and Lost Creek are located in the town. The unincorporated community of Waverly is also located partially in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1858. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 681 to 724 (+6%).

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

Timeline

El Paso, 1858 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe El Paso post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Lost Creek post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902Post officeThe Lost Creek post office closes
  6. 1904Post officeThe El Paso post office closes
  7. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

El Paso on the map, 1949 to 1974

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

El Paso on the 1949 USGS mapEl Paso on the 1974 USGS map1949Baldwin 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 El Paso.

Famous people

Famous people close to El Paso

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

See all →
Anna DodgeActress · b. 1867
F
Frankie RayderAmerican model · b. 1975
Warren P. KnowlesAmerican politician · b. 1908
K
Karyn Bye-DietzAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1971
M
Missy RayderAmerican model · b. 1978
F
Frank GregoryAmerican baseball player · b. 1888
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

El Paso had its own post office from 1858 to 1904. Another post office, Lost Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

El Paso
1858–1904
Lost Creek
1873–1902
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Fischer SchoolschoolHines SchoolschoolLost Creek SchoolschoolMaple Grove SchoolschoolSaint Josephs Catholic ChurchchurchSaint Marys ChurchchurchWood Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside El Paso
Lost CreekSaint Josephs Catholic

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.

GilmanIts storyB−Rock ElmIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSalemIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEllsworthIts storyB−

Questions about El Paso’s history

What year was El Paso founded?

The El Paso post office opened in 1858, 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.