Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1862.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lake Mills’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Mills is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Mills’ 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 Lake Mills’ 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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1836.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Mills’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Mills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Waterloo 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 Mills.
Every building
Lake Mills, building by building, 1892–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1892Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Lake Mills occupies the east shore of Rock Lake. The area was first settled by Captain Joseph Keyes. He called it "Lake Mills", after building a saw mill and grist mill using power from nearby Rock Lake.
Lake Mills was chartered in 1836, and the first building was built in 1837. The village of Lake Mills incorporated in 1852 out of the surrounding town of Lake Mills. In 1866 the village changed its name to "Tyranena", but changed it back again to "Lake Mills" the next year. (Tyranena is supposedly an indigenous name meaning "sparkling waters".)
Passages that mention Lake Mills, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A reminiscent history of the village and town of Lake Mills, Jefferson County1894Read the page →
Read the text
fect a law was passed by the territorial legislature in words as follows: An act to divide the town of Aztalan and establish the town of Lake Mills. Be it enacted by the council and the house of representatives of the territory of Wisconsin. Section I. That all of That part of tintown of Aztalan. comprised in townships number seven and eight in range nnmner thirteen in the county of JeirVrson, be, and the same is hereby
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.
Timeline
Lake Mills, 1836 to 1960
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1836, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lake Mills’ post office opened in 1862, and the census of 1870 counted 590 people here.
How does Lake Mills rank for history?
Lake Mills is more historic than 61% 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.
How old are the homes in Lake Mills?
19% of Lake Mills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (18), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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