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History · Jacksonport

Jacksonport’s post office opened in 1867, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1960 on, and old-book passages.

1867first post office
2on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Jacksonport’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Jacksonport began

When was Jacksonport founded?

1867

The Jacksonport post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 878159 years
Founding year: the first Jacksonport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
The story so far

Jacksonport, in brief

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

Jacksonport is a town in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 878 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Jacksonport and West Jacksonport are located in the town. Part of Clark Lake is in the Town of Jacksonport.

Its first post office opened in 1867. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 705 to 878 (+25%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Jacksonport in 1881

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

Early in the fall of 1879 a skeleton was found in P. G. Hibbard's clearing, town of Jacksonport. The bones were unearthed a few rods from the lake, near the creek running through the north end of Jacksonport. Being more or less decomposed, it was evident that the skeleton was aged, and the Bertholf…
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 108Read the page →
Read the text

Early in the fall of 1879 a skeleton was found in P. G. Hibbard's clearing, town of Jacksonport. The bones were unearthed a few rods from the lake, near the creek running through the north end of Jacksonport. Being more or less decomposed, it was evident that the skeleton was aged, and the Bertholf affair was at once brought to notice. The more the matter was talked over the stronger public opinion grew in the belief that it was the remains of the man that mysteri

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Jacksonport, unlike the other towns in the county, was not organized under the supervision of the County Board. Col. Charles L. Harris, and other active parties in the vicinity of Jacksonport got the matter before the State Legislature, and portions of Bailey's Harbor and Egg Harbor townships was s…
History of Door county, Wisconsin, together with biographies of nearly seven hundred families, and mention of 4,000 persons ..1881 · page 94Read the page →
Read the text

Jacksonport, unlike the other towns in the county, was not organized under the supervision of the County Board. Col. Charles L. Harris, and other active parties in the vicinity of Jacksonport got the matter before the State Legislature, and portions of Bailey's Harbor and Egg Harbor townships was set off as a separate township under the name of Jacksonport, before the people generally knew of the matter. Concerning the affair, we find in the Private and Local Laws of

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

Jacksonport, 1867 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Jacksonport post office opens
  3. 1876Born hereJohn W. Reynolds, Sr. is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906In the archiveAddie Wade with logsJacksonport Wisconsin
  6. 1932In the archiveClark Lake in Jacksonport Wisconsin postcard
  7. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1962In the archiveEquisetum scirpoides
  9. 1970Post officeThe Jacksonport post office closes
By decade

Jacksonport, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s5 items
Addie Wade with logsJacksonport Wisconsin1906Addie Wade with logsJacksonport WisconsinJacksonport Wisconsin postcard1908Jacksonport Wisconsin postcardPostcardM Peffer General Merchandise in West1908M Peffer General Merchandise in WestClark Lake in Jacksonport Wisconsin postcard1932Clark Lake in Jacksonport Wisconsin postcardPostcardDock at1937Dock at
1960s1 item
Equisetum scirpoides1962Equisetum scirpoides
1970s–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
Today6 recent
Aerial view of northwestern Jacksonport, including Lost Lake in Door County, Wisconsin 2020 (cropped)2020Aerial view of northwestern Jacksonport, including Lo…Aerial view of Kangaroo Lake in the towns of Jacksonport and Baileys Harbor, Door County, Wisconsin 20202020Aerial view of Kangaroo Lake in the towns of Jacksonp…Aerial view of Kangaroo Lake (Wisconsin), 2020 cropped2020Aerial view of Kangaroo Lake (Wisconsin), 2020 croppedAerial view of Egg Harbor and Lost Lake in Door County, Wisconsin 20202020Aerial view of Egg Harbor and Lost Lake in Door Count…Stella Maris Catholic Parish2013Stella Maris Catholic ParishKangaroo Lake Aerial2002Kangaroo Lake Aerial
On the map

Jacksonport on the map, 1960 to 1982

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

Jacksonport on the 1960 USGS mapJacksonport on the 1982 USGS map1960Jacksonport 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 Jacksonport.

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.

Addie Wade with logsJacksonport Wisconsin
Retake this viewAddie Wade with logsJacksonport Wisconsin, 1906

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Jacksonport

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2012
Jacksonport Wharf Archeological District
Jacksonport Wharf Archeological DistrictJacksonport Wharf Archaeological District
Districts
All 2 listings
Jacksonport Wharf Archeological DistrictDistrict · listed 2012Jacksonport Wharf Archaeological DistrictDistrict · listed 2015

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Jacksonport had its own post office from 1867 to 1970.

Jacksonport
1867–1970
18601940today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Jacksonport
Holy NativityJacksonportZion Lutheran

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

Help out

Finish Jacksonport’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAddie Wade with logsJacksonport Wiscons…: 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.

Egg Harbor2 historic placesC+Baileys Harbor9 historic placesBSevastopol3 historic placesB−

Questions about Jacksonport’s history

What year was Jacksonport founded?

The Jacksonport post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Jacksonport?

Two places: the Jacksonport Wharf Archeological District (listed 2012) and the Jacksonport Wharf Archaeological District (2015).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.