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CHistory
History · Lisbon

Lisbon’s post office opened in 1846

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #271 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Lisbon was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1980.

1846first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Awkwafaba · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Lisbon began

When was Lisbon founded?

1846

The Lisbon post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Lake Five (1855) and Templeton (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 8,352 in 1980180 years

How historic is Lisbon?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Lisbon’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lisbon is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #271 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lisbon’s overall grade.
Founding era1846, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19402.0% of homes (±1.6) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 34%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 25%

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 Lisbon’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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 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 Lisbon’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lisbon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18925 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1994. Watch Lisbon change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lisbon, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of Lisbon.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lisbon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lisbon’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lisbon on the map, 1892 to 1994

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

Lisbon on the 1892 USGS mapLisbon on the 1906 USGS mapLisbon on the 1959 USGS mapLisbon on the 1971 USGS mapLisbon on the 1994 USGS map1892Waukesha 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 Lisbon.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lisbon had its own post office from 1846 to 1863. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lisbon
1846–1863
Lake Five
1855–1904
Templeton
1889–1932
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lake Five
Gone or out of use
K and N Sand and Gravel PitmineLake Five SchoolschoolNorth Lisbon SchoolschoolPlainview SchoolschoolRichmond SchoolschoolSussex Quarrymine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lisbon
Lisbon - Merton UnionRichmondRose Hill

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

The story

How Lisbon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lisbon.

Read it all →

The first settler in what became the town of Lisbon was Thomas S. Redford, who claimed 160 acres in the area in 1836. The town of Lisbon was created by the legislature of the Wisconsin Territory in 1838, ten years before Wisconsin achieved statehood. The boundaries originally included what are now Pewaukee, Brookfield, and Menomonee Falls before those three were also granted town status in 1839. The town government of Lisbon first met on April 15, 1842, in the future Lisbon Plank Schoolhouse.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lisbon, 1846 to 1932

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Lisbon post office opens
  3. 1855Post officeThe Lake Five post office opens
  4. 1861Born hereWilliam Edwards is born here
  5. 1863Post officeThe Lisbon post office closes
  6. 1889Post officeThe Templeton post office opens
  7. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1904Post officeThe Lake Five post office closes
  10. 1932Post officeThe Templeton post office closes
By decade

Lisbon, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Lisbon, WI, USA2011Lisbon, WI, USALisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (6)2011Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (6)Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (5)2011Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (5)Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (4)2011Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (4)Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (3)2011Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (3)Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (2)2011Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (2)Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (1)2011Lisbon, WI, USA - panoramio (1)
People over time

Lisbon, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,000198020002020Peak: 10,477

Between 8,277 and 10,477 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

SussexIts storyCMertonIts storyC+Menomonee Falls21 historic placesB+Pewaukee1 historic placeCMertonIts storyC+Richfield1 historic placeBLannonIts storyCHartland14 historic placesB+Delafield1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrookfieldIts storyD

Questions about Lisbon’s history

What year was Lisbon founded?

The Lisbon post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lisbon rank for history?

Lisbon is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #271 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.

How old are the homes in Lisbon?

2% of Lisbon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1983.

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 (7), 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) 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.