Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #46 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Daniel C. Van Brunt House, the Horicon State Bank and the Van Brunt Memorial School. Its Register listings are the Daniel C. Van Brunt House, the Horicon State Bank and the Van Brunt Memorial School. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1880.
The Horicon post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Horicon is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #46 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Horicon’s 10.5 sits above most of its state (77% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Horicon’s history is told.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions 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 hereTheodore Schroeder is born here
Born hereCharles Hawks, Jr. is born here
In the archiveVan Brunt Mfg. Co
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Horicon yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Horicon is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,767 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1847. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,655 to 3,767 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Horicon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the town was in 1846, located on Section 3. Rev. James W. Burton preached the first sermon in the township in 1846, and, in the following year, the German Lutherans built a house of worship on Section 35. There are now in the town eight churches. Much of the history of this town will be found in the history of the village of Horicon, and therefore we give a very brief notice of many things. The first mill was built by Larrabee & Co. in 1847, on Rock River, in the present village of Horicon. The town is traversed by two railroads — the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and Fond du Lac, Amboy & Peoria, the history of which is given elsewhere.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the town was in 1846, located on Section 3. Rev. James W. Burton preached the first sermon in the township in 1846, and, in the following year, the German Lutherans built a house of worship on Section 35.. There are now in the town eight churches. Much of the history of this town will be found in the history of the village of Horicon, and therefore we give a very brief notice of many things. The first mill was built by Larrabee & Co. in 1847, on Rock River, in the present village of Horicon. The town is traversed by two railroads — the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and Fond du Lac, Amboy & Peoria, the history of which is given elsewhere.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The erection of a dam across Rock River, near the village of Horicon, was commenced in 1845 and completed in 1846-47. A saw-mill was built, in connection with the dam, in 1847, and a grist-mill in 1848-49. In June, 1852, owing to an unusual accumulation of water above, the dam "went out." The break was nearly one hundred feet in width, and the united efforts of the citizens were required to stay the rushing waters. For six weeks, the work of depositing stones and trees and earth in the break went on, and it was not until the energies of the current had been spent, that the gaping chasm could be completely bridged. In the mean time, the land owners on the east side of the lake got out an injunction against the proprietors
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The erection of a dam across Rock River, near the village of Horicon, was commenced in 1845 and completed in 1846-47. A saw-mill was built, in connection with the dam, in 1847, and a grist-mill in 1848-49. In June, 1852, owing to an unusual accumulation of water above, the dam "went out." The break was nearlv one hundred feet in width, and the united efforts of the citizens were required to stay the rushing waters. For six weeks, the work of depositing stones and trees and earth in the break went on, and it was not until the energies of the current had been spent, that the gaping chasm could be completely bridged. In the mean time, the land owners on the east side of the lake got out an injunction against the proprietors
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Horicon. 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 Horicon.
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 Horicon’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 1,250 and 3,873 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Horicon’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Horicon post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Horicon is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #46 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.
Three places: the Daniel C. Van Brunt House (listed 1981), the Horicon State Bank (2018) and the Van Brunt Memorial School (2020).
26% of Horicon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1963.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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