Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1933 on and old-book passages.
The Hickory Grove post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Homer (1857) and Anderson (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Hickory Grove’s history is told.
Hickory Grove had its own post office from 1856 to 1857. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hickory Grove yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 455 to 568 (+25%).
Passages that mention Hickory Grove, cut from the printed page as they were published.
and Henry Meeker settled in the year 1843. The first German settlers were Sigmund Stuart, who came in 1845, and John Nauert and George Bohl, who arrived in 1846. The organization of the town of Fennimore took place in 1849, embracing at that time the territory of the present towns of Fennimore, Marion, Hickory Grove, Woodman, Boscobel, Waterstown and part of Muscoda. The first town meeting was held on the 3d day of April, 1849, on Section 7, Town 6, Range 2 west, and the following officers elected : Supervisor, Lester Pratt, M. D., Chairman.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
organized; in 1852, Liberty; in 1853, Millville, taking most of what is now Wyalusing, a large portion of Patch Grove, and all of the pres¬ ent town of Millville. In 1854 Wyalusing and Marion were created; in 1856, Little Grant, Blue River, Hickory Grove, and Watterstown; in 1859, the towns of Boscobel, Glen Haven, and Lander (soon changed to Tafton). The county as it was then divided, and the boundaries of the new towns, may be seen on the map on page 141.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings 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 Hickory Grove. 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 Hickory Grove.
Nobody well known was born in Hickory Grove itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Hickory Grove post office opened in 1856, 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 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.
