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B−History
History · Greendale

Greendale’s historic district, a National Historic Landmark, takes in 581 buildings

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #195 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Greendale was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Greendale Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 581 buildings. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1940.

1938first post office
3on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
15old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greendale’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greendale began

When was Greendale founded?

1938

The Greendale post office opened in 1938, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,527 in 19402020 census: 14,85488 years

How historic is Greendale?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Greendale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Greendale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greendale is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #195 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greendale’s overall grade.
Founding era1938, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19409.4% of homes (±3.0) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register3 listings, 585 historic buildings, 401 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 46%

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 Greendale’s 401 sits above most of its state (99% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 585 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 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 Greendale’s past

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

A historic districtThe Greendale Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, takes in 581 historic buildings.On the map since 18914 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1971. Watch Greendale change.A town in old photos15 old photos, postcards and papers, 1899–1936.A National Historic Landmark3 places on the National Register, including Greendale Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 585 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmark
1
Greendale Historic District
historic buildings protected
585
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Jeremiah Curtin House
Jeremiah Curtin House, built 1846Trimborn Farm, built 1850Greendale Historic District, built 1935★
BuildingsDistricts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
★ Landmark
Greendale Historic DistrictColonial Revival · Built 1935
Jeremiah Curtin HouseBuilt 1846
Trimborn FarmBuilt 1850

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

On the map

Greendale on the map, 1891 to 1971

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

Greendale on the 1891 USGS mapGreendale on the 1901 USGS mapGreendale on the 1958 USGS mapGreendale on the 1971 USGS map1891Bayview 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 Greendale.

By decade

Greendale, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s11 items
GrangeBioret Sept2009 011899GrangeBioret Sept2009 01GrangeBioret Sept2009 021899GrangeBioret Sept2009 02GrangeBioret Sept2009 031899GrangeBioret Sept2009 03GrangeBioret Sept2009 041899GrangeBioret Sept2009 04GrangeBioret Sept2009 051899GrangeBioret Sept2009 05GrangeBioret Sept2009 061899GrangeBioret Sept2009 06GrangeBioret Sept2009 071899GrangeBioret Sept2009 07GrangeBioret sept2009 ConcFlume21899GrangeBioret sept2009 ConcFlume2GrangeBioret sept2009 ConcFlume51899GrangeBioret sept2009 ConcFlume5GrangeBioret sept2009 ConcFlume71899GrangeBioret sept2009 ConcFlume7GrangeBioret sept2009 ConcFlume81899GrangeBioret sept2009 ConcFlume8
1900s–1920snothing 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
1930s4 items
Greendale, Wisconsin1936Greendale, WisconsinHouse model. Greendale, Wisconsin1936House model. Greendale, WisconsinFloor plan. Greendale, Wisconsin1936Floor plan. Greendale, WisconsinDisposal plant. Greendale, Wisconsin1936Disposal plant. Greendale, Wisconsin
1940s–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
The story

How Greendale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greendale.

Read it all →

The first recorded inhabitants of the Greendale area were various Native American tribes, including the Potawatomi. The 1833 Treaty of Chicago struck an agreement between the United States government that required the Chippewa, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes to cede to the US government 5,000,000 acres (2,000,000 ha). In exchange for ceding their lands in the area, they were to receive monetary payments and lands west of the Mississippi in Indian Territory.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Greendale, 1846 to 2012

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846BuiltJeremiah Curtin House is built
  3. 1850BuiltTrimborn Farm is built
  4. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1899In the archiveGrangeBioret Sept2009 01
  6. 20th century
  7. 1935BuiltGreendale Historic District is built
  8. 1936In the archiveGreendale, Wisconsin
  9. 1938Post officeThe Greendale post office opens
  10. 1940Born hereGerald Uelmen is born here
  11. 1980Born hereAriana Hilborn is born here
  12. 1996Born hereLuke Eisner is born here
  13. 21st century
  14. 2000Born hereScott Shuster is born here
  15. 2012LandmarkGreendale Historic District named a National Historic Landmark
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.

GrangeBioret Sept2009 01
Retake this viewGrangeBioret Sept2009 01, 1899

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Greendale, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,00019401960198020002020Peak: 16,928

Between 2,527 and 16,928 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Greendale

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

See all →
Ariana HilbornAmerican athletics competitor · b. 1980
L
Luke EisnerAmerican actor, musician, and model · b. 1996
G
Gerald UelmenAmerican attorney · b. 1940
Scott ShusterUS business journalist, corporate events modera… · b. 2000
J
Jim FrohnaAmerican cinematographer and director
Help out

Finish Greendale’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 viewGrangeBioret Sept2009 01: 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.

GreenfieldIts storyC+Franklin1 historic placeB−Hales Corners2 historic placesB−

Questions about Greendale’s history

What year was Greendale founded?

The Greendale post office opened in 1938, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Greendale rank for history?

Greendale is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #195 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.

What is on the National Register in Greendale?

Three places: the Greendale Historic District (listed 2005), the Jeremiah Curtin House (1972) and the Trimborn Farm (1980).

How old are the homes in Greendale?

9% of Greendale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1967.

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 Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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) 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.