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History · Freeman

Freeman’s post office opened in 1867, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1929 on.

1867first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Freeman began

When was Freeman founded?

1867

The Freeman post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Boma (1897) and Reed (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 727159 years
Founding year: the first Freeman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Freeman’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 Freeman are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Freeman, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Freeman’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Freeman’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Freeman had its own post office from 1867 to 1904. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Freeman
1867–1904
Boma
1897–1904
Reed
1900–1904
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Reed
Gone or out of use
Boma SchoolschoolBuck Creek SchoolschoolElm Park SchoolschoolHowarth SchoolschoolLower Sugar Creek SchoolschoolLysne SchoolschoolNash Ridge SchoolschoolOak Ridge SchoolschoolUpper Rush Creek SchoolschoolUpper Sugar Creek Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Freeman
EitsertFreemanLawrence RidgeRush Creek

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Freeman, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Freeman yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Freeman is a town in Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 727 at the 2020 census. The villages of Ferryville and De Soto are located in the town. The unincorporated community of Reed is also located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1867. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 686 to 727 (+6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Freeman, 1867 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Freeman post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Boma post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Reed post office opens
  6. 1904Post officeThe Freeman post office closes
  7. 1904Post officeThe Boma post office closes
  8. 1904Post officeThe Reed post office closes
  9. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Freeman on the map, 1929 to 1983

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

Freeman on the 1929 USGS mapFreeman on the 1932 USGS mapFreeman on the 1966 USGS mapFreeman on the 1983 USGS map1929Ferryville 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 Freeman.

Famous people

Famous people close to Freeman

Nobody well known was born in Freeman itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
E
Edwin G. KrebsAmerican biochemist · b. 1918
Butch VigAmerican musician and record producer · b. 1955
C
Chris MulkeyAmerican actor · b. 1948
Mark C. LeeAmerican astronaut · b. 1952
A
Arnold KegelAmerican gynecologist · b. 1894
James GillettAmerican politician · b. 1860
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

De SotoIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUticaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSterlingIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSenecaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWheatlandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Freeman’s history

What year was Freeman founded?

The Freeman post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.