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B−History
History · Little Black

Little Black’s post office opened in 1888, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1969 on.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Little Black began

When was Little Black founded?

1888

The Little Black post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,156138 years

How historic is Little Black?

B−

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Little Black’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Little Black is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Little Black’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194037.0% of homes (±7.9) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational 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 53%
NewerOlder

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 Little Black’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 C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.9 points). 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 Little Black’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 Little Black are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Little Black’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Little Black’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
The story

How Little Black came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Little Black.

Read it all →

The outline of the six by six mile square that would become Little Black was surveyed in 1851 by a crew working for the U.S. government. The west edge of the town is on the Fourth Principal Meridian, the first north-south line surveyed up through the forests of Wisconsin, from which towns, sections and forties were later measured. In October 1854 a different crew of surveyors marked all the section corners in the township, walking through the woods and swamps, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Little Black, 1888 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Little Black post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1933Born hereDale Lewis is born here
  5. 1934Post officeThe Little Black post office closes
  6. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Little Black on the map, 1969 to 1980

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

Little Black on the 1969 USGS mapLittle Black on the 1980 USGS map1969Stetsonville sheet · 1:24,000

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Little Black had its own post office from 1888 to 1934.

Little Black
1888–1934
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Center SchoolschoolLawndale SchoolschoolLiberty SchoolschoolLittle White Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Little Black
Little BlackSacred HeartStetsonville PublicZion Lutheran

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Medford4 historic placesBStetsonvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMedfordIts storyCHolwayIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDeer CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMayvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Little Black’s history

What year was Little Black founded?

The Little Black post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Little Black rank for history?

Little Black is more historic than 53% 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 Little Black?

37% of Little Black’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.