Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #157 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Parker, Dwight T., Public Library. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1880.
The Fennimore post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fennimore is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #157 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls 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 Fennimore’s 3.6 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Fennimore’s history is told.
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 year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fennimore.
Fennimore was named for a settler who disappeared during the Black Hawk War. It was previously also known as Fennimore Center. Fennimore incorporated as a village in 1889 and changed to a city in 1919.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Fennimore, cut from the printed page as they were published.
2, town of Beetown, on which he lived until April, 1855, when he purchased of J. Allen Barber a gristmill and farm in the town of Lancaster, called Grant Mills, which he operated and tilled the farm until 1869, when owing to poor health he sold the mill and moved to the village of Lancaster ; in 187<'. he engaged in the general merchandise trade, which business he carried on in Lancaster and Fennimore until January, 1876 ; in 1870, he bought 28 acres of land in the village of Lancaster on which he built a dwelling house and other improvements, planted a vineyard of 2 acres, orchard and small fruit, which he has cultivated successfully in connection with his other business; is one of the first and most successful grape and small fruit growers in this part of the county. Has six children — Louise, born in Germany,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This town was organized in 1856, being at first included in the town of Fennimore. As the old settlers have generally died or been replaced by foreigners, but little can be said of its early settlement. Among the old settlers were Joseph Guernsey, Henry Morgan, L. B.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
With the issue of May 26, 1881, the name of the paper was changed to that of the Montfort and Fennimore Independent, the design being to extend the benefits of its publication to the flourishing village of Fennimore. The paper is issued weekly on Thursdays, enjoys a circulation of 500 copies, and is valued at $1,000.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveInterior of St. Mary's Church
BuiltParker, Dwight T., Public Library is built
Born hereJack K. Farris is born here
In the archiveWhere to go from Fennimore, Wisconsin
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2012Fennimore Railroad Historical Society Museum
2012Fennimore Farm
2012Casey's General Store
2012Carr Valley Cheese Co. and Igor Cheese Loving Rat
2012Amish Stand off Hwy 18
2012Amish Farm Near
2012Ace Hardware®-World Of Variety
2010St. Marys Catholic Church
2010Fennimore Tower 1
2009FennimoreWisconsinWaterTowerUS18
2009FennimoreWisconsinSignUS18
2009FennimoreWisconsinSign2US18
2009FennimoreWisconsinDowntown1US18US61
2009Fennimore Tower 2
2003Fennimore Cheese Shop, Igor the Mouse statue, Route 61Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fennimore. 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 Fennimore.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fennimore’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 295 people in 1880 to 2,764 in 2020, 9 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fennimore’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Fennimore’s post office has been open since 1850.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Fennimore post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Fennimore is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #157 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.
One place: the Parker, Dwight T., Public Library (listed 1983).
23% of Fennimore’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 Wikimedia Commons (15), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
