2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Elkhart Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Elkhart Lake’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elkhart Lake is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elkhart Lake’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 Elkhart Lake’s 54.9 sits above most of its state (89% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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 (±8.8 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 Elkhart Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was first inhabited by the Potawatomi Indians and they named the area “Me-shay-way-odeh-ni-bis”, or Great Elk Heart Lake, because the lake resembles an elk's heart. Few people traveled to the area until the 1860s when the Mississippi Railroad came to Glenbeulah, making it possible for them to take a stagecoach the rest of the way to Elkhart. In 1872 the Milwaukee and Northern Railroad came into Elkhart and brought more travelers. The area was incorporated as Elkhart Lake in 1894.
Passages that mention Elkhart Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, past and present1912Read the page →
Read the text
THE VILLAGE The village of Elkhart Lake was incorporated in the year 1905, and its first president was T. C. Sharpe. According to the census of 1912, there is a population of 500 inhabitants. The beautiful little summer resort has most of the conveniences of a city, being supplied with water works, electric lights and good streets and sidewalks. A branch of the interurban railway enters the town from Plymouth. The educational facilities are of the best and consist of a high and graded schools. There is a public library contain-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, past and present1912 · page 139Read the page →
Read the text
Saemann and P. P. Brickbauer for an electric interurban railway, to connect the city with Plymouth, Crystal Lake and Elkhart Lake and in the fall of that year cars were running to the towns mentioned, with the exception of Elkhart Lake. A branch was built from Plymouth and operated to Elkhart Lake in 1909, the first car reaching that popular summer resort on June I2th of the year mentioned. Previous to this, however, an electric line had been built from Sheboygan to Milwaukee. These interurbans are very generously patronized, thus showing the great appreciation of the people of
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
Elkhart Lake, 1866 to 1993
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Elkhart Lake post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Elkhart Lake rank for history?
Elkhart Lake is more historic than 72% 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 Elkhart Lake?
Two places: the Villa Von Baumbach (listed 1982) and the Siebken's Resort (2020).
How old are the homes in Elkhart Lake?
20% of Elkhart Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (14), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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