On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kossuth is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kossuth’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 Kossuth’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.5 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Kossuth’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
Another post office, King's Bridge, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
KingsbridgeReifs MillsRockwood
Gone or out of use
Brockville SchoolschoolElm View SchoolschoolFrancis Creek SchoolschoolMeadow Brook SchoolschoolPalm Grove SchoolschoolRockwell Quarrymine
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kossuth
Knollwood Memorial GardensKossuthKossuth Cemetery Number 1Kossuth EvergreenKossuth National
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Kossuth, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kossuth yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kossuth is a town in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,969 at the 2020 census. The village of Francis Creek and the unincorporated community of Rockwood are located in the town. The unincorporated communities of Kingsbridge and Reifs Mills are also located partially in the town.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,090 to 1,969 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Kossuth in 1884
Passages that mention Kossuth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Kossuth and Humbolt counties, Iowa1884 · page 493Read the page →
Read the text
The village of Irvington was the first laid out in Kossuth county, being filed for record upon the 27th day of September, 1856, by Qeorge Smith, Lyman L. Treat and Kendall Young. The town was started by these partitis with an eye to capturing the county government, but were defeated as detailed elsewhere. The first
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
Kossuth, 1870 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Kossuth is more historic than 61% 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 Kossuth?
32% of Kossuth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 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.
