Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1880.
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 Hillsboro’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hillsboro yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hillsboro is a city in Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,397 at the 2020 Census. The city is located within the Town of Hillsboro.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 807 to 787 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Hillsboro, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1855-6 I was assessor and collector of taxes tor the town of Viroqua, with the exception of the new town of Hillsboro, which embraced the two townships east of the meridian line. The town of Viroqua embraced all the territory of the northeastern part of the county, including the present town of Christiana. In the winter when I was collecting
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1855-6 I was assessor and collector of taxes tor the town of Viroqua, with the exception of the new town of Hillsboro, which embraced the two townships east of the meridian line. The town of Viroqua embraced all the territory of the northeastern part of the county, including the present town of Christiana. In the winter when I was collecting
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sally L. Tripp, for adultery, came before the circuit court at the fall term, 1880. Emmons was the hired man of Mr. Tripp, the husband of the co-defendant, in the town of Hillsboro. She plead guilty, and was sentenced by the county judge to pay a fine of $200. It was paid by her husband. Emmons was tried by circuit court, found guilty, and sentenced to
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.
Born hereByron D. Shear is born here
Born hereMarc Mitscher is born here
In the archiveHillsboro Brewery, Hillsboro, Wisconsin circa 1905 - 288F20E5-FBE7-4581-A7FE-FCBFD43F2CB0
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2024Hillsboro High School-2
2023Land O'Lakes
2023Hillsboro, wisconsin
2023Hillsboro tractor pull
2023Hillsboro baseball field
2023Hillsboro Condensed Milk Company
2023Grain bins by
2016Rural Richland County - panoramio - Corey Coyle
2007WIS33WIS80WIS82
2007HillsboroWisconsinDowntown
2007HillsboroWisconsinDOTSignEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hillsboro. 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 Hillsboro.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1904Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hillsboro’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 195 and 1,417 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hillsboro’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, Trippville, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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 Wikimedia Commons (12), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
