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CHistory
History · Hawthorne

Hawthorne’s post office opened in 1885, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1953 on.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hawthorne began

When was Hawthorne founded?

1885

The Hawthorne post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hines (1903) and Dobie (1909), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,058141 years

How historic is Hawthorne?

C

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Hawthorne’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hawthorne is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hawthorne’s overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.8% of homes (±4.6) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National 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 32%
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 Hawthorne’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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 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 Hawthorne’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 Hawthorne are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hawthorne, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hawthorne’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hawthorne’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 and burying grounds

Hawthorne’s post office has been open since 1885. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hawthorne
1885–today
Hines
1903–1955
Dobie
1909–1914
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DobieHillcrestHines
1cemetery inside Hawthorne
Parkview

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

The story so far

Hawthorne, in brief

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

Hawthorne is a town in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,058 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Dobie, Hawthorne, Hillcrest, and Hines are located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1885. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,136 to 1,058 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Hawthorne, 1885 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Hawthorne post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe Hines post office opens
  5. 1909Post officeThe Dobie post office opens
  6. 1914Post officeThe Dobie post office closes
  7. 1918Born hereChuck Eisenmann is born here
  8. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1955Post officeThe Hines post office closes
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

Hawthorne on the map in 1953

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hawthorne.

Hawthorne on the 1953 USGS map1953Ashland sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hawthorne.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

BennettIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAmniconIts storyCLake Nebagamon1 historic placeCOaklandIts storyC

Questions about Hawthorne’s history

What year was Hawthorne founded?

The Hawthorne post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Hawthorne rank for history?

Hawthorne is more historic than 32% 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.

How old are the homes in Hawthorne?

13% of Hawthorne’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1991.

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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.