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BHistory
History · Ixonia

Ixonia’s post office opened in 1846, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #144 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1980.

1846first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Awkwafaba · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Ixonia began

When was Ixonia founded?

1846

The Ixonia post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Pipersville (1840) and Pipersville (1867), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 2,905 in 19802020 census: 5,120180 years

How historic is Ixonia?

B

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Ixonia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ixonia’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ixonia is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #144 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ixonia’s overall grade.
Founding era1846, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194022.4% of homes (±7.4) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 64%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 60%

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 Ixonia’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Ixonia’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 Ixonia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1971. Watch Ixonia change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ixonia, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of Ixonia.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ixonia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ixonia’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
On the map

Ixonia on the map, 1892 to 1971

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

Ixonia on the 1892 USGS mapIxonia on the 1959 USGS mapIxonia on the 1971 USGS map1892Watertown sheet · 1:62,500

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Ixonia had its own post office from 1846 to 1855. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pipersville
1840–1843
Ixonia
1846–1855
Pipersville
1867–1904
Ixonia
1883–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lake Lac La BellePipersville
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ixonia
BethelCross LutheranGlenview Memorial GardensIxonia Evangelical LutheranPipersvilleRiver RoadSaint Pauls Lutheran

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

The story

How Ixonia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ixonia.

Read it all →

The town of Union was separated from the town of Watertown on February 12, 1841. Five years later, Union was further divided into two new towns. The first town became known as Concord, and as the residents could not otherwise agree on a name for the second town, the name was chosen by drawing letters at random until a name could be formed from the letters. As a result, "Ixonia" was the name given to the town on January 21, 1846, and still remains the only town with this name in the United States.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ixonia, 1840 to 1904

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Born hereEdwin Coe is born here
  3. 1840Post officeThe Pipersville post office opens
  4. 1843Post officeThe Pipersville post office closes
  5. 1846Post officeThe Ixonia post office opens
  6. 1855Post officeThe Ixonia post office closes
  7. 1867Post officeThe Pipersville post office opens
  8. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 20th century
  10. 1904Post officeThe Pipersville post office closes
By decade

Ixonia, decade by decade

Today20 recent
Saint Lukes Norwegian Cemetery2024Saint Lukes Norwegian CemeteryKaul Park2024Kaul ParkCross Lutheran Cemetery2024Cross Lutheran CemeteryWelsh Methodist Cemetery2023Welsh Methodist CemeteryWayside County Park2023Wayside County ParkSki Slide Park2023Ski Slide ParkSaint Pauls Lutheran Cemetery2023Saint Pauls Lutheran CemeteryKanow Park2023Kanow ParkIxonia Wisconsin water tower2023Ixonia Wisconsin water towerIxonia Wisconsin town hall2023Ixonia Wisconsin town hallIxonia Wisconsin town hall and water tower2023Ixonia Wisconsin town hall and water towerIxonia Wisconsin highway sign2023Ixonia Wisconsin highway signGlenview Memorial Gardens 022023Glenview Memorial Gardens 02Glenview Memorial Gardens 012023Glenview Memorial Gardens 01Fireman’s Park2023Fireman’s ParkBethel Cemetery (1)2023Bethel Cemetery (1)PipersvilleWisconsinSign2020PipersvilleWisconsinSignPipersvilleWisconsinDowntown2020PipersvilleWisconsinDowntownUntitled photo2020Untitled photoWIMap-doton-Ixonia2004WIMap-doton-Ixonia
People over time

Ixonia, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,500198020002020Peak: 5,120

Between 2,789 and 5,120 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lac La BelleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOconomowoc2 historic placesA−Lebanon1 historic placeB+ConcordIts storyB+WatertownIts storyB+

Questions about Ixonia’s history

What year was Ixonia founded?

The Ixonia post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ixonia rank for history?

Ixonia is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #144 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.

How old are the homes in Ixonia?

22% of Ixonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 (20), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.