Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1990.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Holcombe is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Holcombe’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
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 Lake Holcombe’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Holcombe.
The six-mile squares that would become Lake Holcombe were surveyed in June, 1852 by crews working for the U.S. government. Later that year, another crew marked all the section corners, walking through the woods and wading the rivers, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Holcombe. 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 Lake Holcombe.
Between 920 and 1,031 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Holcombe’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Lake Holcombe itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
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.
Lake Holcombe is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns. 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.
13% of Lake Holcombe’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1976.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.
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2015
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