The story so far
Ettrick, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ettrick yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,237 to 1,285 (+4%).
BHistory
History · Ettrick
32% of Ettrick’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1985 on and old-book passages.
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Ettrick’s history
How historic is Ettrick?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Ettrick’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ettrick is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ettrick’s overall grade.
Founding eraAge sits out for Ettrick: no founding date holds up well enough to grade on–Homes built before 194031.5% of homes (±6.5) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 61%
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 Ettrick’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Ettrick’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ettrick’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ettrick’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hegg
Iduna
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beachs CornersChapultepeeHeggIdunaUpper French Creek
Gone or out of use
Beach SchoolschoolChapultepec SchoolschoolHegg SchoolschoolLone Star SchoolschoolSouth Branch SchoolschoolUpper French Creek SchoolschoolWashington SchoolschoolWayside SchoolschoolWhalen Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ettrick
EttrickSaint BridgetVor Frelsers
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Ettrick in 1917
Passages that mention Ettrick, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin1917 · page 486Read the page →
Read the text
prise, however, prosperous though it is, is but one of those with which he is connected. He was one of the founders of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Galesville and its first vice-president. In 1911 he organized the Bank of Ettrick, of which he is at the present time president, devoting to this institution the greater part of his time ; and he is besides secretary and treasurer and a director of the Ettrick & Northern Railroad, now building ; acting treasurer of the Ettrick Creamery Company and treasurer of the Ettrick Telephone Company, also secretary and treasurer of the Ettrick
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin1917 · page 266Read the page →
Read the text
The contract for constructing the line was let to Ed. J. Matchett and John Raichle. Work was started in the fall of 1916 at Blair. At the present writing, in the fall of 1917, the road is graded to within a mile of Ettrick, the "cut," a remarkable feat of excavating through one of the main hills of the "ridge," is nearly done, all the bridges are completed, the ties and rails are at Blair, and track laying has commenced at that village.
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
Ettrick, 1871 to 1985
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Ettrick, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2023On the map
Ettrick on the map in 1985
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ettrick.
1985Winona sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ettrick.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Ettrick
Nobody well known was born in Ettrick itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
R
Robert BromRoman Catholic bishop · b. 1938
L
Leo Ferdinand DworschakCatholic bishop · b. 1900
J
James HainesAmerican amateur wrestler · b. 1954Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Ettrick’s history
How does Ettrick rank for history?
Ettrick is more historic than 61% 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.
How old are the homes in Ettrick?
32% of Ettrick’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1974.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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.