The story
Read it all →How La Follette came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of La Follette.
The town is named for U.S. senator and Wisconsin governor Robert M. La Follette.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · La Follette
Half of La Follette’s homes were built after 1985
Most of La Follette was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1955 on.
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
What stands out about La Follette’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start La Follette’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Follette’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Coomer
Hertel
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CoomerHertel
1cemetery inside La Follette
Big Sand Lake
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
La Follette, 1892 to 1992
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
La Follette on the map, 1955 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of La Follette. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1955Hertel sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of La Follette.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to La Follette
Nobody well known was born in La Follette itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
R
Rodney Erickson17th President of Pennsylvania State University · b. 1946
E
Erin Gloria RyanAmerican screenwriter, speechwriter, and televi… · b. 1983H
Harvey L. Dueholm20th century American politician · b. 1910Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
SirenIts storyDLorainIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSand LakeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDeweyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClam Falls1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRooseveltIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about La Follette’s history
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.