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AHistory
History · Green Lake

Green Lake’s post office opened in 1844, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Green Lake County Courthouse, the Thrasher's Opera House and the Green Lake Village Hall. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1880.

1844first post office
3on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Green Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Green Lake began

When was Green Lake founded?

1844

The Green Lake post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Dartford (1847), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 241 in 18802020 census: 1,001182 years

How historic is Green Lake?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Green Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Green Lake’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Green Lake is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Green Lake’s overall grade.
Founding era1844, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194021.5% of homes (±5.9) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 27.9 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder

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 Green Lake’s 27.9 sits above most of its state (85% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Green Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1911.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1980. Watch Green Lake change.Deep rootsA post office since 1844: 182 years of Green Lake.
★ What stands out · By decade

Green Lake, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s10 items
Green Lake, Wis1880Green Lake, WisOakwood Hotel1880Oakwood HotelGreen Lake, Wis., Sherwood Cottages1880Green Lake, Wis., Sherwood CottagesGreen Lake from Pleasant Point, Wis1880Green Lake from Pleasant Point, WisGreen Lake, Wis., from Grey Rock1880Green Lake, Wis., from Grey RockGreen Lake, Wis., Grey Rock cottage1880Green Lake, Wis., Grey Rock cottageOakwood Hotel from gate1880Oakwood Hotel from gateGreen Lake, Wis., entrance gate, Pleasant Point1880Green Lake, Wis., entrance gate, Pleasant PointGreen Lake, Wis., old mill at railway station1880Green Lake, Wis., old mill at railway station[Gr]een Lake, Wis1880[Gr]een Lake, Wis
1890s–1910s6 items
Green Lake, [Wisconsin]1898Green Lake, [Wisconsin]Green Lake from Pleasant Point, Wis1898Green Lake from Pleasant Point, WisGreen Lake, Wis., from Pleasant Point1898Green Lake, Wis., from Pleasant PointGreen Lake Station1911Green Lake StationThe hickberries1911The hickberriesMaplewood shore1911Maplewood shore
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Green Lake on the map, 1918 to 1980

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

Green Lake on the 1918 USGS mapGreen Lake on the 1956 USGS mapGreen Lake on the 1980 USGS map1918Ripon 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 Green Lake.

Timeline

Green Lake, 1844 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Green Lake post office opens
  3. 1847Post officeThe Dartford post office opens
  4. 1858Born hereL. E. Potter is born here
  5. 1861Born herePaul F. Clark is born here
  6. 1880In the archiveGreen Lake, Wis
  7. 1898In the archiveGreen Lake, [Wisconsin]
  8. 1899BuiltGreen Lake County Courthouse is built
  9. 1899Born hereElda Emma Anderson is born here
  10. 20th century
  11. 1903Post officeThe Green Lake post office closes
  12. 1907Post officeThe Dartford post office closes
  13. 1907Post officeThe Green Lake post office opens
  14. 1910BuiltThrasher's Opera House is built
  15. 1911In the archiveGreen Lake Station
  16. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  17. 1939BuiltGreen Lake Village Hall is built
The story so far

Green Lake, in brief

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

Green Lake is a city in, and the county seat of, Green Lake County, Wisconsin, United States. The city had a population of 1,001 in the 2020 census. It is located on the north side of Green Lake. The Town of Green Lake is located on the south side of Big Green Lake, opposite the city.

Its first post office opened in 1844. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 960 to 1,001 (+4%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Green Lake in 1913

Passages that mention Green Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Green Lake School Song Tune: Dixie. There's but one Green Lake in the whole countree, And that is the place that pleases me Best of all, best of all, best of all.
Book of the Green Lake manse1913 · page 39Read the page →
Read the text

Green Lake School Song Tune: Dixie. There's but one Green Lake in the whole countree, And that is the place that pleases me Best of all, best of all, best of all.

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.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Green Lake, Wis
Retake this viewGreen Lake, Wis, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Green Lake’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Green Lake

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Green Lake County Courthouse
Green Lake County Courthouse, built 1899Thrasher's Opera House, built 1910Green Lake Village Hall, built 1939
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Neoclassical1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Modern Movement1
Green Lake County CourthouseNeoclassical · Built 1899
Thrasher's Opera HouseLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals · Built 1910
Green Lake Village HallModern Movement · Built 1939

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Green Lake, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,208

Between 204 and 1,208 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Green Lake

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Elda Emma AndersonAmerican physicist · b. 1899
L
L. E. PotterAmerican politician · b. 1858
Paul F. ClarkAmerican politician · b. 1861
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Green Lake had its own post office from 1844 to 1903. Another post office, Dartford, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Green Lake
1844–1903
Dartford
1847–1907
Green Lake
1907–today
18401930today

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

Help out

Finish Green Lake’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGreen Lake, Wis: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

BrooklynIts storyC

Questions about Green Lake’s history

What year was Green Lake founded?

The Green Lake post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Green Lake rank for history?

Green Lake is more historic than 87% 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.

What is on the National Register in Green Lake?

Three places: the Green Lake County Courthouse (listed 1982), the Thrasher's Opera House (1999) and the Green Lake Village Hall (2004).

How old are the homes in Green Lake?

22% of Green Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1968.

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).

From the Library of Congress (16), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 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.