Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1900 on and old-book passages.
The Ellenboro post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ellenboro’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ellenboro. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ellenboro.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ellenboro yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1849. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 525 to 580 (+10%).
Passages that mention Ellenboro, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the town was J. H. C. McKinsey, who came from Platteville about 1837, and remained a prominent citizen of the town until his death August 21, 1871, aged 71. In 1853 he built a saw-mill and grist-mill on the site of the present village of Ellenboro. His wife was a sister of Major Rountree. He was long the postmaster and storekeeper of the village. Lyman C. Drake settled on Section 28 in 1839. William Foland came in 1840 and was a citizen of the town until his death in Digitized by LiOOQLe
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The nucleus of the village of Ellenboro has always been McKinsey’s Mill. It has had a post-office since 1 853, a school-house, a blacksmith shop, and two stores until recently, when a third store and a harnessshop were established. It has a creamery, established in 1895, which does a very large business.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Ellenboro itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Ellenboro had its own post office from 1849 to 1912.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Ellenboro post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.
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