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C−History
History · Lake Delton

Lake Delton’s post office opened in 1931, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #340 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Lake Delton was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the Marshall Memorial Hall. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1960.

1931first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake Delton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lake Delton began

When was Lake Delton founded?

1931

The Lake Delton post office opened in 1931, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 714 in 19602020 census: 3,50195 years

How historic is Lake Delton?

C−

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lake Delton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lake Delton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Delton is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #340 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Delton’s overall grade.
Founding era1931, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19402.2% of homes (±1.7) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 2.9 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 19%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 6%

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 Lake Delton’s 2.9 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. 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 Lake Delton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19013 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1975. Watch Lake Delton change.
★ What stands out · On the map

Lake Delton on the map, 1901 to 1975

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Delton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lake Delton on the 1901 USGS mapLake Delton on the 1957 USGS mapLake Delton on the 1975 USGS map1901The Dells sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lake Delton.

The story

How Lake Delton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Delton.

Read it all →

The village of Lake Delton was originally named Norris for Edward Norris, the surveyor of the village, in 1850. The Village changed its name to Delton, but changed again in 1926 to Mirror Lake to avoid a conflict with the Town of Delton in that area. The name Lake Delton was taken after the construction of the Dell Creek dam creating a reservoir also known as Lake Delton. The village was incorporated in 1954.

On June 9, 2008, Lake Delton, the approximately 267-acre (1.08 km2) dammed artificial lake adjacent to the village, overflowed its banks, washing away four homes and a portion of Old Newport Road (County Highway "A") while nearly emptying the lake basin into the Wisconsin River following several days of torrential rains.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake Delton, 1901 to 1988

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1928BuiltMarshall Memorial Hall is built
  4. 1931Post officeThe Lake Delton post office opens
  5. 1973In the archiveBartlettsPancakesWisconsin
  6. 1988In the archiveDell Creek Motel sign
By decade

Lake Delton, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1970s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s–1980s9 items
BartlettsPancakesWisconsin1973BartlettsPancakesWisconsinNEAR THE TOWN OF WISCONSIN DELLS THE WISCONSIN RIVER CHANNELS THROUGH DEEP, SOFT SANDSTONE CLIFFS, CUTTING THE ROCK... …1973NEAR THE TOWN OF WISCONSIN DELLS THE WISCONSIN RIVER …Dell Creek Motel sign1988Dell Creek Motel signDells Ducks1988Dells DucksEmerald City Arcade1988Emerald City ArcadeRed Wagon Restaurant, Route 121988Red Wagon Restaurant, Route 12Storybook Gardens1988Storybook GardensStorybook Gardens1988Storybook GardensTeepee (once a gift shop), Dells Ducks, Route 121988Teepee (once a gift shop), Dells Ducks, Route 12
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today14 recent
Sinclair Dinosaur ^ Wintergreen Resort2012Sinclair Dinosaur ^ Wintergreen ResortPonderosa Steakhouse2012Ponderosa SteakhouseLake Dalton Tower2012Lake Dalton TowerDenny's® Diner2012Denny's® DinerCracker Barrel Old Country Store® - panoramio (1)2012Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® - panoramio (1)2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookTanger Outlet Center-Now the Outlets at The Dells2008Tanger Outlet Center-Now the Outlets at The DellsHome Depot®2008Home Depot®4 Seasons Motel20084 Seasons MotelWIS23atI90I942007WIS23atI90I94TommyBartlettWaterShowGrandstands2007TommyBartlettWaterShowGrandstandsTommyBarlett'sThrillShow20072007TommyBarlett'sThrillShow2007TommyBartlettShowLakeDelton2005TommyBartlettShowLakeDeltonWIMap-doton-Lake Delton2004WIMap-doton-Lake Delton
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

BartlettsPancakesWisconsin
Retake this viewBartlettsPancakesWisconsin, 1973

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lake Delton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lake Delton

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Marshall Memorial Hall
Marshall Memorial Hall, built 1928
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
Marshall Memorial HallColonial Revival · Built 1928

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Lake Delton, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50019601980200020203,501

Grew from 714 people in 1960 to 3,501 in 2020, 4 times over.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Delton’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Lake Delton

Nobody well known was born in Lake Delton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Warren WeaverAmerican mathematician · b. 1894
A
Alexander WetmoreAmerican ornithologist and avian paleontologist · b. 1886
Clare BriggsAmerican cartoonist · b. 1875
Daryl MoreyAmerican basketball executive · b. 1972
May Wood SimonsAmerican writer, teacher, and socialist · b. 1876
S
Stuart PalmerAmerican writer · b. 1905
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lake Delton’s post office has been open since 1931.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Deer Run Estates
Gone or out of use
McBoyle Dells AirportairportMedos Lake Delton Seaplane Baseairport
1cemetery inside Lake Delton
Mount Pleasant

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Lake Delton’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBartlettsPancakesWisconsin: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Delton1 historic placeC+Wisconsin Dells5 historic placesB+

Questions about Lake Delton’s history

What year was Lake Delton founded?

The Lake Delton post office opened in 1931, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lake Delton rank for history?

Lake Delton is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #340 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 Lake Delton?

One place: the Marshall Memorial Hall (listed 1993).

How old are the homes in Lake Delton?

2% of Lake Delton’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 1993.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (23), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.