The Knowlton post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Dancy (1887) and Ashley (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,984170 years
How historic is Knowlton?
C
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Knowlton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Knowlton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Knowlton is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Knowlton’s overall grade.
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 Knowlton’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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 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 Knowlton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Knowlton had its own post office from 1856 to 1955. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Knowlton
1856–1955
Dancy
1887–1959
Ashley
1900–1911
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AshleyDancy
Gone or out of use
Victor Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Knowlton
KnowltonSaint FrancisSaint Francis Xavier Cemetery Old
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Knowlton, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Knowlton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Knowlton is a town in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,984 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Dancy and Knowlton are located in the town. The unincorporated communities of Ashley and Rocky Corners are also located partially in the town. The town was created in 1859.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,910 to 1,984 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Knowlton in 1913
Passages that mention Knowlton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 501Read the page →
Read the text
The Catholic St. Paul's Church was built in 1878 and soon afterwards had a resident priest who also attended to the mission churches in the town of Emmett and in the town of Knowlton. The present resident rector of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 541Read the page →
Read the text
In the village of Knowlton there is a saw mill owned by Charles Guenther, doing custom sawing, a grist mill owned by the same gentleman ; a general merchandise store conducted by C. Guenther & Sons, and a general merchandise store conducted by L. Breitenstein.
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
Knowlton, 1856 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Knowlton post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Knowlton rank for history?
Knowlton is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. 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 Knowlton?
12% of Knowlton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (7), 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.
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