Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1947 on and old-book passages.
The Lafayette post office opened in 1895, 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 Lafayette’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lafayette yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lafayette is a town in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 447 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1895. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 396 to 447 (+13%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Lafayette, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of Lafayette was organized in the spring of 1856, being detached from the town of Angelo. The first town meeting was held at the residence of L. A. Farr, on section twentysix, on the first day of April, 1856, with John Foster, Andrew Lansing and Jacob L. Sargent acting as inspectors of election.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Lafayette was organized in the spring of 185G. being detached from the town of Angelo. The first town meeting was held at the residence of L. A. Farr. on section twentysix, on the first day of April, 1856, with John Foster, Andrew Lansing and Jacob L. Sargent acting as inspectors of election.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
experience of the ordinary farmer boy, receiving his education in the district schools. He lived on the home farm until he reached the age of twenty-four, in 1879, then purchased his present farm in section thirty-two, town of Lafayette, where he has since resided, He has made many improvements, added new buildings and the land is in a high state of cultivation, which produces each year an abundant harvest.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
water power rights on the La Crosse river; the crim con case of Jones vs. Goss, the case of State vs. Joe Hull, Bell vs. Village of Sparta (where plaintitf fell into the pond through a hole in Franklin street bridge), Dinehart vs. Lafayette (a case involving the constitutionality of the Soldiers' Bounty Act), Cremer vs. Town of Portland, Randall vs. Ellis and McDonald, and many other notable cases that might be mentioned, all of which were earnestly and vigorously contested before Circuit Judges Gale,
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lafayette. 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 Lafayette.
Nobody well known was born in Lafayette itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Lafayette had its own post office from 1895 to 1900.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lafayette post office opened in 1895, 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 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.
