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History · Fairchild

22% of Fairchild’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Fairchild’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Fairchild are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,120 in 1950; 451 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairchild’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairchild’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Fairchild, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,120

Peaked at 1,120 in 1950; 451 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairchild’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Fairchild came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fairchild.

Read it all →

The first inhabitants of the area were the Dakota, Ojibwe, and Ho-Chunk tribes.

The West Wisconsin Railway reached the area in 1868, and the Fairchild post office was established in 1870. Starting in 1872 farmers began acquiring land in the area through the Homestead Acts.

Fairchild was incorporated in 1880 and was named for Lucius Fairchild, the 10th Governor of Wisconsin. By the late 1800s the village became a commercial hub due to the logging and railroad enterprises of businessman N.C. Foster.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fairchild, 1919 to 1950

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1919Born hereCarole Landis is born here
  3. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 1,120
By decade

Fairchild, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Fairchild, Wisconsin2024Fairchild, WisconsinFairchild Village Hall2024Fairchild Village HallFairchild Wisconsin downtown2017Fairchild Wisconsin downtownHistoric Store in2012Historic Store inWIMap-doton-Fairchild2004WIMap-doton-Fairchild
On the map

Fairchild on the map, 1948 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairchild. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fairchild on the 1948 USGS mapFairchild on the 1979 USGS map1948Fairchild 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 Fairchild.

Every building

Fairchild, building by building, 1894

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Fairchild fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Babensdort SchoolschoolGraves Mill SchoolschoolMelville SchoolschoolPettisville SchoolschoolStephen Landing Stripairport

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

ClevelandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFosterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBridge Creek1 historic placeB−

Questions about Fairchild’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.