Lac du Flambeau’s post office opened in 1890, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #236 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Most of Lac du Flambeau was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Nicolaus H. Hultin House. Its Register listing is the Nicolaus H. Hultin House. Below: maps from 1971 on.
Founding year: the first Lac du Flambeau post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lac du Flambeau’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lac du Flambeau is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #236 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lac du Flambeau’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 Lac du Flambeau’s 5.5 sits above most of its state (67% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. 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 Lac du Flambeau’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have lived in this area since 1745, when Chief Keeshkemun led the Band to the area. European-American fur traders first established themselves in Lac du Flambeau in 1792. The fur trade continued in the area until around 1835. In 1854, the Treaty of La Pointe established the Lac du Fleambeau reservation. Logging began on the reservation in 1885, and the town soon hosted the largest lumber yard in Wisconsin.
An Indian residential school, the Government Boarding School at Lac du Flambeau, was founded in 1895. At least six students died during their time at the school between 1895 and 1932.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lac du Flambeau. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1971Lac Du Flambeau sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lac du Flambeau.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Lac du Flambeau
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Nicolaus H. Hultin House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
The Lac du Flambeau post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lac du Flambeau rank for history?
Lac du Flambeau is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #236 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.
What is on the National Register in Lac du Flambeau?
One place: the Nicolaus H. Hultin House (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Lac du Flambeau?
6% of Lac du Flambeau’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
