Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Garfield

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Garfield

22% of Garfield’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1890.

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

What stands out about Garfield’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 Garfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Garfield, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Garfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Garfield’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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Levis
1888–1903
Price
1888–1905
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LevisPriceRequa
Gone or out of use
Carlson SchoolschoolChurchview SchoolschoolLevis SchoolschoolPrime Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Garfield
HillcrestNorth Branch

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

The story

How Garfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Garfield.

Read it all →

Garfield is located in the northwestern corner of Jackson County. It was created in 1881 out of the northern portion of the town of Northfield.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Garfield, 1888 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Levis post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Price post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Levis post office closes
  6. 1905Post officeThe Price post office closes
  7. 1940On 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

Garfield on the map, 1940 to 1984

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

Garfield on the 1940 USGS mapGarfield on the 1968 USGS mapGarfield on the 1984 USGS map1940Osseo 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 Garfield.

People over time

Garfield, census by census

0200400600800190019201940196019802000Peak: 775

Between 361 and 775 people in every census since 1890.

13 censuses, 1890–2010.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Garfield

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

See all →
Carole LandisAmerican actress · b. 1919
Callista GingrichU.S. diplomat · b. 1966
Herman EkernLawyer, politician; Lieutenant Governor of Wisc… · b. 1872
Dan DevineAmerican college football coach, professional f… · b. 1924
Edward E. LyonUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1871
J
John Bethune MelbyAmerican composer · b. 1941
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

SumnerIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClevelandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBridge Creek1 historic placeB−NorthfieldIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHaleIts storyB−

Questions about Garfield’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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.