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C+History
History · Greenfield

Greenfield’s post office opened in 1839

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #234 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Greenfield was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1960.

1839first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Greenfield began

When was Greenfield founded?

1839

The Greenfield post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Good Hope (1849), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 17,636 in 19602020 census: 37,803187 years

How historic is Greenfield?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Greenfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenfield is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #234 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greenfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1839, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19405.9% of homes (±1.3) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 35%

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 Greenfield’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. 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 Greenfield’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 Greenfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18915 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1994. Watch Greenfield change.Deep rootsA post office since 1839: 187 years of Greenfield.Famous sons and daughtersBrandin Podziemski, Alan Kulwicki and 8 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greenfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Greenfield’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
On the map

Greenfield on the map, 1891 to 1994

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

Greenfield on the 1891 USGS mapGreenfield on the 1901 USGS mapGreenfield on the 1959 USGS mapGreenfield on the 1971 USGS mapGreenfield on the 1994 USGS map1891Muskego 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 Greenfield.

Timeline

Greenfield, 1839 to 2003

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Greenfield post office opens
  3. 1844Born hereMay Wright Sewall is born here
  4. 1849Post officeThe Good Hope post office opens
  5. 1882Post officeThe Greenfield post office closes
  6. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1894Post officeThe Good Hope post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1954Born hereAlan Kulwicki is born here
  10. 1983Born hereJonathan Dekker is born here
  11. 21st century
  12. 2003Born hereBrandin Podziemski is born here
The story

How Greenfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenfield.

Read it all →

On March 8, 1839, the town of Kinnikennick was created by the territorial legislature, encompassing the western part of the town of Lake); and on December 20, 1839, the south portion of the town of Kinnikennick was split off to form the town of Franklin. As of the 1840 census, the population of Kinnikennick or Kinnikinnick was 404.

Postmaster Olney Harrington suggested the town be renamed to Greenfield in 1839 and in 1841 it was renamed. In 1957, Greenfield was the last municipality in Milwaukee to incorporate, by this stage being one third of its original size, after surrounding areas took parts of Greenfield when they incorporated.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Greenfield, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Greenfield August 2024 01 (Organ Piper Pizza Palace)2024Greenfield August 2024 01 (Organ Piper Pizza Palace)Powerline Trail 100th Street2023Powerline Trail 100th StreetTwo Silos2016Two SilosDriftless Area - panoramio - Corey Coyle (18)2016Driftless Area - panoramio - Corey Coyle (18)Driftless Area - panoramio - Corey Coyle (17)2016Driftless Area - panoramio - Corey Coyle (17)Country Bluff Wedding Chapel2014Country Bluff Wedding ChapelKopp's sign2011Kopp's signJanesville Plank Road Historical Marker2009Janesville Plank Road Historical MarkerMontag-Boogk Cream City Brick Home2006Montag-Boogk Cream City Brick HomeMac Tonight2006Mac TonightMac Tonight Animatronic2006Mac Tonight AnimatronicWIMap-doton-Greenfield b2004WIMap-doton-Greenfield b
People over time

Greenfield, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,000196019802000202037,803

Grew from 17,636 people in 1960 to 37,803 in 2020.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

10 famous people were born in Greenfield

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

See all →
B
Brandin PodziemskiAmerican basketball player · b. 2003
Alan KulwickiAmerican racecar driver · b. 1954
May Wright SewallAmerican suffragist · b. 1844
J
Jonathan DekkerPlayer of American football · b. 1983
Matt TurkAmerican football player · b. 1968
W
W. Ben HuntAmerican artist · b. 1888
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Greenfield had its own post office from 1839 to 1882. Another post office, Good Hope, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Greenfield
1839–1882
Good Hope
1849–1894
18301930today
Gone or out of use
All-State Equipment Company Heliportairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Greenfield
ArlingtonGood HopeLavise

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Milwaukee212 historic placesA+Greendale3 historic placesB−Hales Corners2 historic placesB−West Allis9 historic placesBFranklin1 historic placeB−New Berlin4 historic placesB

Questions about Greenfield’s history

What year was Greenfield founded?

The Greenfield post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Greenfield rank for history?

Greenfield is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #234 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.

How old are the homes in Greenfield?

6% of Greenfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1974.

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 (12), 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.