Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 31 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1870.
Galesville dates its founding to 1854 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Galesville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold 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 Galesville’s 224 sits above most of its state (98% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 39 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Galesville’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1870 and 1880, then grew 4-fold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Galesville’s Wikipedia page.
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 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Galesville.
Galesville is named for its founder, Judge George Gale, a native of Vermont. It was platted by Gale in 1854. It was formally incorporated as a village in 1887, and then as a city in 1942.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Galesville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Trempealeau was platted April 21, 22 and 23, 1852 (as Montoville, April 7, 1852), was incorporated nearly two decades later and reincorporated March 10, 1900. Galesville was platted April 22, 1854, and incorporated June 13, 1887. Arcadia was platted Jan. 27, 1874, and incorporated Dec. 17, 1878. Whitehall was platted Jan. 20, 1874, and incorporated June 14, 1887. Eleva was platted Sept. 10, 1877, and incorporated Jan. 14, 1902.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Galesville branch of the Chicago & Northwestern, extending from Trempealeau to Galesville, was put in operation in the summer of 1883. In 1882 a number of public spirited citizens approached the Chicago & Northwestern officials on the subject and were told that if the people of Galesville would secure a right-of-way and grade the roadbed the railroad would lay the ties and rail and put the branch in operation. Preparations were accordingly made, the Galesville-Mississippi Railroad Company was organized March 1, 1882, a subscription was taken, and the town voted
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 archiveGalesville, Wisconsin (c. 1870s)
BuiltCapt. Alexander A. Arnold Farm is built
BuiltJohn Bohrnstedt House is built
BuiltTollef Jensen House is built
In the archiveWIS 11 shield in Galesville 1925
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Galesville. 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 Galesville.
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 Galesville’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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Galesville’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1870 counted 1,068 people here.
Galesville is more historic than 79% 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.
8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Capt. Alexander A. Arnold Farm (listed 1978, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Downtown Historic District, the Ridge Avenue Historic District and the Gale College Historic District, with 31 contributing buildings. 39 historic buildings in all.
23% of Galesville’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 1975.
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 (9), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
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