Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1923 on and old-book passages.
The Exeter post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Dayton (1854), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Exeter is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Exeter’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.
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 →
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 Exeter’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Exeter. 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 Exeter.
From Wikipedia’s history of Exeter.
The first recorded settler in Exeter was William Deviese, who settled in 1828. He was followed shortly after by settlers such as John Dougherty, Hollis Crocker, Pierce Bradley, James Slater, James Hawthorne, and Edward Beochard. Most of the early settlers come from the British Isles, Wales, Germany, and Switzerland. The town was later formed in 1849.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Exeter, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first town meeting in the town of Exeter was held at the house of L. D. Barnes, in the village of Exeter. For a short time after the rise of Dayton, town meetings were held alternately at Exeter and Dayton.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
railroad bonds to aid in the construction of the Sugar River Valley Railroad was ninety. There was also a good majority for the same in the town of Exeter. We believe all the towns along that route, in this county, except Spring Grove, have fully expressed a willingness to aid in building the road. We believe it is the purpose of those having in charge the construction
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
northern tier of Green county, beginning from the west. It is bounded on the north by tlie town of Primrose, Dane county; on the east by the town of Exeter; on the south by the town of Washington; and on the west by the town of York. The country is hilly and broken. A bird's eye view of the town might suggest the idea that a gigantic hand had strewed the hills
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tion of the building. When it was done, all concerned felt that the love they bore to learning was expensive; but they hired their teacher, and took her to the village of Exeter to be examined. Exeter had for some time been negligent in providing for her school, for which reason Mr. Heywood, the town superintendent, gave all the money in his hands to the new school, and it proved to be enough to pay the teacher three terms. To meet
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Exeter itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Exeter had its own post office from 1843 to 1901. Another post office, Dayton, opened and closed inside today’s town.
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 Exeter post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Exeter is more historic than 58% 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.
16% of Exeter’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1998.
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).
From Wikipedia, 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.
