Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1955 on and old-book passages.
The Helvetia post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Helvetia’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Helvetia yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Helvetia is a town in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 701.
Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 636 to 701 (+10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Helvetia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Town of St. Lawrence comprises Township 23 north, Range 12 east. It is bounded on the north by the Town of Helvetia, on the east by Little Wolf, on the south by Waupaca, and on the west by Scandinavia.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1887, A. W. Whitcomb built a saw mill and opened a store at Big Falls, on the Little Wolf River, in Section 26, Township 25 north. Range 11 east, (which township was a part of Helvetia until set off into the independent Town of Wyoming, by the County Board at the annual meeting in November, 1890.)
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Helvetia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Helvetia.
Helvetia had its own post office from 1870 to 1877.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Helvetia post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
