Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #227 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fox Lake is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #227 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Fox Lake’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: 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1884Sheet 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 Fox Lake.
Established in 1838, Fox Lake was the first settlement in Dodge County. The first inhabitants were Winnebago Indians who had named the area "Hosh-a-rac-ah-tah", meaning "good land". The area was later named Fox Lake, either in honor of a Winnebago Indian named Big Fox who saved a lost trapper or for the English translation of the Indian name of the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Fox Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Van Buren. It was certified to before Quartus H. Barron. Fox Lake continued under town government until the 4th of May, 1858, when, pursuant to and in accordance with tlie provisions of an act of the Legislature, entitled "An Act to Incorporate the Village of Fox Lake," the qualified electors of the said village convened at the American House, and cliosc William J. Dawes and David D. Cheeney, Judges, and Garret T. Hawley, Clerk of Election. Balloting then proceeded for village officers for the ensuing year, resulting as follows: President, Abel Merwin ; Trustees, William D. Barnett, James L. Townsend, Wilson Torrey, William K. Parker, John L. Brower and David D. Thomas ; Clerk, Arie Banta ; Treasurer, Francis Hamilton ; Marshal,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first post office established in Dodge County was at Fox Lake. It was known as Waushara Post Office until about 1850, when, upon application to the Post Office Department, the name was changed to Fox Lake. Its history dates back to 1839, when the only outlet was by way of the old United States road from Fort Howard to Fort Winnebago. The citizens were accommodated with mails once a week by an obliging horseman in the employ of the Government, who made the round trip between the two forts once in seven days. In 1844, a weekly post route was established between Fox Lake and Watertown, thus affording the citizens of the former place more ready communication with the Cream City on Lake Michigan, as well
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 archiveThe Oakfield Cottage
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fox Lake. 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 Fox Lake.
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 Fox Lake’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 814 and 1,604 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fox Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Fox Lake is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #227 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.
19% of Fox Lake’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 1976.
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 (6), the Library of Congress (6), 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, 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.
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