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History · Iola

15% of Iola’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Iola’s archive · credits on each photo
The story so far

Iola, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Iola yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Iola is a village in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,236 at the 2020 census. The village is bordered by the towns of Iola and Scandinavia. The community was named after a Potawatomi princess.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 971 to 938 (-3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Iola in 1890

Passages that mention Iola, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The Town of Iola consists of Township 24 north, Range 11 east. It is bounded on the north by the Town of Harrison, on the east by Helvetia, on the south by Scandinavia, and on the west by Portage County.
History of Waupaca county, Wisconsin1890 · page 166Read the page →
Read the text

The Town of Iola consists of Township 24 north, Range 11 east. It is bounded on the north by the Town of Harrison, on the east by Helvetia, on the south by Scandinavia, and on the west by Portage County.

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.

Timeline

Iola, 1882 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Peterville post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Peterville post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911In the archiveMain St
  6. 1958Born hereDave Krieg is born here
  7. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1979Born hereTim Polasek is born here
  9. 1998Born hereKristian Welch is born here
By decade

Iola, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s5 items
Main St1911Main StMain St1911Main StAuto club1911Auto clubBuilding roads at Iola, Wis1911Building roads at Iola, WisState st [i.e., Street] parade1911State st [i.e., Street] parade
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
J C WIPF Mills2012J C WIPF MillsWIMap-doton-Iola2005WIMap-doton-Iola
On the map

Iola on the map, 1971 to 1984

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

Iola on the 1971 USGS mapIola on the 1984 USGS map1971Iola 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 Iola.

Every building

Iola, building by building, 1911

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 sheet.

Iola fire insurance map, 1911, sheet 11911Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Main St
Retake this viewMain St, 1911

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Iola’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Iola, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,301

Between 194 and 1,301 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Iola

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

See all →
D
Dave KriegAmerican football player · b. 1958
Tim PolasekAmerican football coach · b. 1979
K
Kristian WelchAmerican football linebacker · b. 1998
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Peterville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Petersville
Gone or out of use
Anderson SchoolschoolLangdock SchoolschoolPleasant Hill Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Iola
Hitterdahl

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Iola’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMain St: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HelvetiaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Hope1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarrisonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townScandinaviaIts storyC+

Questions about Iola’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (5), 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.