The Little Falls post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cataract (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,509162 years
How historic is Little Falls?
C
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Little Falls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Little Falls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Little Falls 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.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Little Falls’ 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 Little Falls’ 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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 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 Falls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Little Falls yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Little Falls is a town in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,509 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Cataract and Four Corners are located in the town.
Its first post office opened in 1864. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,523 in 2010, 1,509 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Little Falls in 1912
Passages that mention Little Falls, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monroe County Wisconsin1912 · page 548Read the page →
Read the text
Between the years 1850 and 1860 the town of Little Falls saw some very lively times. There was no railroad then at Black River Falls, as Sparta became the first railroad point. Little Falls being situated on the way between these two towns there was considerable teaming done, not only from Sparta up to the lumber woods, but also in the other direction. Freight was hauled back and forth and a stage made daily trips each way between Cataract and Sparta and to Black River Falls, another line
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present1912 · page 525Read the page →
Read the text
There is no record of the organization of the town of Little Falls in the proceedings of the county board of this county. It seems that at the time of the organization of this county the territory comprised in the towai of Little Falls and wdiat was then known as the town of Eaton on the east of it was supposed to be in Jackson county, and these two towns were originally
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present1912 · page 799Read the page →
Read the text
jMr. McCray came to Wisconsin in 1855 and first settled at Sandy Bay, Kewannee connty, and here remained nntil 1867, when he removed to Little Falls township, in Monroe connty, and purchased 120 acres of wild land, which he improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. Besides being engaged in general farming, he makes a specialty of fruit, and is the largest grower of apples and small fruits in the town of Little Falls. A Republican in political opinion, he takes an interest in the affairs
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monroe County Wisconsin1912 · page 582Read the page →
Read the text
The first minister of the gospel who administered the means of grace among the Lutheran families in the town of Little Falls, fourteen miles north of Sparta, was the Rev. Louis E. Junker, a self-sacrificing and devout Christian. He eame from Burr Oak valley sixteen miles, where he had been located since 1878, and preached at irregular intervals in private residences and school houses. In the spring of 1882 Rev. Junker left this congregation and went as pastor to Eitzen, Minn., closing his earthly
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
Little Falls, 1858 to 1994
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Little Falls post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Little Falls rank for history?
Little Falls 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.
How old are the homes in Little Falls?
14% of Little Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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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