Founding year: the first Elm Grove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Elm Grove’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elm Grove is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #167 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elm Grove’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 Elm Grove’s 10.8 sits above most of its state (78% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 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 Elm Grove’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elm Grove. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Waukesha 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 Elm Grove.
The story so far
Elm Grove, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elm Grove yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Elm Grove is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,524 at the 2020 census. Elm Grove was named as America's best suburb by Business Insider in October 2014.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,934 to 6,513 (+10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Elm Grove in 1880
Passages that mention Elm Grove, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources1880 · page 731Read the page →
Read the text
Elm Grove. — The majority of the inhabitants of Elm Grove are Germans, and it is an exceedingly quiet little burg. The depot was built here in 1864, and about that time the post oflRce was established, with G. B. Breed as Postmaster. After him, Mr. Schlick, then Mr. Reusch, then Mrs. Reusch, the present Postmistress. The first store was kept by Mr. Wood, in the basement of the building now owned by Mrs. Reither. Mr. Reither is now the oldest store-keeper here.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources1880 · page 494Read the page →
Read the text
We had no road more than blazed trees. We had quagmires on the start, and hills and dales until we crossed the Menomonee at thepresent viaduct of the St. Paul Railroad. In a creek near Elm Grove, we had our first experience in a Western mud-hole. We had to strip the harness from our four horses and pull them out one by one; and they looked more like mummies than anything else. By this time it was noon, and we had made about eight miles of the sixteen. After feeding our team and partaking of our lunch, we moved on a little more cautiously.
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
Elm Grove, 1852 to 1988
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Elm Grove post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Elm Grove rank for history?
Elm Grove is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #167 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Elm Grove?
One place: the Visitation Convent Complex (listed 2011).
How old are the homes in Elm Grove?
12% of Elm Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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