History · Elba

Elba’s post office opened in 1850, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Farmers and Merchants Union Bank, a National Historic Landmark. Below: maps from 1955 on.

1850first post office

1on the National Register

28%homes built before 1940

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Elba began

When was Elba founded?

1850

The Elba post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Danville (1857) and Astico (1916), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,041176 years

How historic is Elba?

B⁺

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Elba post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Elba’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elba is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elba’s overall grade.

Founding era1850, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194028.4% of homes (±8.6) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%A⁻National Register1 listing, 8.9 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%

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 Elba’s 8.9 sits above most of its state (75% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.6 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 Elba’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 Elba are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elba, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including Farmers and Merchants Union Bank, a National Historic Landmark.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elba’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elba’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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Elba had its own post office from 1850 to 1857. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Elba

1850–1857

Danville

1857–1906

Astico

1916–1974

18501940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

AsticoDanville

Gone or out of use

Altschwader Landing StripairportFranklin SchoolschoolHartley SchoolschoolPershing SchoolschoolPleasant Vale Schoolschool

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elba

BethelElbaOkeag

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

1 historic place in Elba

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

place listed

National Historic Landmark

Farmers and Merchants Union Bank

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1972

Farmers and Merchants Union Bank

Buildings★ landmark

★ Landmark

Farmers and Merchants Union BankBuilt 1919

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Elba, in brief

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

Elba is a town in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,041 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Astico and Danville are located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 996 to 1,041 (+5%).

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

Timeline

Elba, 1850 to 1976

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

19th century
1850Post officeThe Elba post office opens
1851Born hereMarcus Robbins is born here
1854Born hereSamuel R. Webster is born here
1857Post officeThe Elba post office closes
1857Post officeThe Danville post office opens
20th century
1906Post officeThe Danville post office closes
1916Post officeThe Astico post office opens
1919BuiltFarmers and Merchants Union Bank is built
1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1974Post officeThe Astico post office closes
1976LandmarkFarmers and Merchants Union Bank named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

Elba, decade by decade

Today1 recent

2013Cell Tower - panoramio (20)

On the map

Elba on the map, 1955 to 1980

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

1955Beaver Dam 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 Elba.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Elba

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

See all →

Marcus RobbinsUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1851

Samuel R. WebsterAmerican politician · b. 1854

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Columbus20 historic placesA⁺PortlandIts storyB⁻LowellIts storyB⁺Columbus1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Fountain Prairie1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town CalamusIts storyB⁺

Questions about Elba’s history

What year was Elba founded?

The Elba post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Elba rank for history?

Elba is more historic than 69% 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.

What is on the National Register in Elba?

One place: the Farmers and Merchants Union Bank (listed 1972).

How old are the homes in Elba?

28% of Elba’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1975.

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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.

Post to Elba

Check your email