Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1880.
The La Valle post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Valle’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of La Valle.
A post office called La Valle has been in operation since 1856. La Valle is derived from the French meaning "the valley".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention La Valle, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Harry P. Apker obtained his education in the village schools and for several years afterward was baggage roaster at La Valle for the Northwestern Railroad, and also v/orked as a freight brakeman for four years. When he left the railroad he went to Iowa and bought a farm of eighty acres and worked on the same for two years and then came back to La Valle, after selling his western property, and in 1894 bought a farm of 120 acres, forty acres of which lies within the corporation limits.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Prairie du Sac was defeated. In December of this year three sections belonging to the Town of New Buffalo were annexed to the Town of Flora ; Hillsdale, which was taken from Lemonweir, then embraced the north half of the towns of La Valle and Woodland. At the same session of the l>oard of supervisors the name of Brooklyn was changed to Baraboo. and the southern division of the Town of Prairie du Sac was christened Lower Prairie du Sac The name of the Town of Flora was changed to Fairfield in Decem-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Marston — Town formerly in the northwestern part of the county, no longer on the maps, probably named for some resident or eastern town by the name of Marston. There was a postoffice called Marston which was changed to La Valle on account of it being similar to Mauston in the next county. Matts Ferry — Sec Merrimack.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Francis Marion Groat attended the district schools in boyhood and later took courses in Ripon College and at Madison, and then went into educational work and taught school for twenty years, during eleven of these teaching at La Valle, and all over the county may be found men and women active and useful in their various stations, who recall Mr. Groat with sentiments of high regard because of his helpful influence in their student days.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of La Valle. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of La Valle.
Between 306 and 448 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on La Valle’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in La Valle itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The La Valle post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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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