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Hortonville Community HallHortonville Community Hall · Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0
B+History
History · Hortonville

Hortonville dates to 1848, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #126 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Hortonville Community Hall. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.

1848founded
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hortonville began

When was Hortonville founded?

1848

Hortonville dates its founding to 1848 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 311 in 18802020 census: 3,028178 years

How historic is Hortonville?

B+

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hortonville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hortonville is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #126 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hortonville’s overall grade.
Founding era1848, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194012.1% of homes (±4.0) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 3.1 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 70%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 65%

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 Hortonville’s 3.1 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 points). Two sources give 1848.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Hortonville’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 Hortonville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1909, drew every building in Hortonville.Deep rootsEstablished in 1848: 178 years of Hortonville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hortonville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hortonville’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
Every building

Hortonville, building by building, 1894–1909

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.

Hortonville fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Hortonville, 1848 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848
    FoundingHortonville is established
  3. 1849Post officeThe Hortonville post office opens
  4. 1859Born hereWallace G. Nye is born here
  5. 1870Born hereCharlie Nagreen is born here
  6. 1892Born hereGerald Nye is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1978Born hereDave Gassner is born here
The story

How Hortonville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hortonville.

Read it all →

In 1848, Alonzo Horton purchased 1,500 acres from the governor of Wisconsin, now known as the Town of Hortonia and the Village of Hortonville, for 70 cents per acre. He built a cabin and dammed the Black Otter Creek, creating the 75-acre (300,000 m2) Black Otter Lake. After laying out a plat for the community by buying land and platting it off in 1849, Horton was swayed westward by the California Gold Rush. He later developed the city of San Diego, California.

On August 11, 1894, the settlement was incorporated as the Village of Hortonville. It had one of the world's first match light factories.

Two feature films are said to have been set in Hortonville, Janie (1944) and Janie Gets Married (1947).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hortonville, decade by decade

Today8 recent
OutagamieCountyWisconsinMunicipalBoundaries22011OutagamieCountyWisconsinMunicipalBoundaries2HortonvilleWisconsinSignWIS152010HortonvilleWisconsinSignWIS15HortonvilleWisconsinDowntown2WIS152010HortonvilleWisconsinDowntown2WIS15HortonvilleWisconsinDowntown1WIS152010HortonvilleWisconsinDowntown1WIS15HortonvilleHighSchoolWisconsin22010HortonvilleHighSchoolWisconsin2HortonvilleHighSchoolWisconsin12010HortonvilleHighSchoolWisconsin1HortonvilleCommunityHallWIS152010HortonvilleCommunityHallWIS15WIMap-doton-Hortonville2004WIMap-doton-Hortonville
On the map

Hortonville on the map, 1969 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hortonville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hortonville on the 1969 USGS mapHortonville on the 1975 USGS mapHortonville on the 1984 USGS map1969Hortonville sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hortonville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1981
Hortonville Community Hall
Hortonville Community Hall
Buildings
Hortonville Community HallBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Hortonville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000188019001920194019601980200020203,028

Grew from 311 people in 1880 to 3,028 in 2020, 9 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hortonville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Hortonville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Gerald NyeAmerican politician and antiwar activist · b. 1892
Charlie NagreenAmerican claimant of inventor of the hamburger · b. 1870
Wallace G. NyeAmerican mayor · b. 1859
D
Dave GassnerAmerican baseball player · b. 1978
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HortoniaIts storyC+EllingtonIts storyC

Questions about Hortonville’s history

What year was Hortonville founded?

In 1848, according to Wikidata. Hortonville’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1880 counted 311 people here.

How does Hortonville rank for history?

Hortonville is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #126 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.

What is on the National Register in Hortonville?

One place: the Hortonville Community Hall (listed 1981).

How old are the homes in Hortonville?

12% of Hortonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1985.

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 Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.