Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Loyal

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Loyal

41% of Loyal’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1979 on, and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Loyal’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

Where Loyal’s name came from

How did Loyal get its name?

Loyal’s name comes from the 1860s, when so many of its patriotic pioneers went to fight in the Civil War.

Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What stands out about Loyal’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Loyal’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Loyal’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLoyal, Wis: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Loyal, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Loyal yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Loyal is a city in Clark County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,203 at the 2020 census. The city is located within the Town of Loyal, though it is politically independent. Its name comes from the 1860s, when so many of its patriotic pioneers went to fight in the Civil War. A store was established at the site in 1870, the place platted in 1885, incorporated as a village in 1893, and changed to a city in 1948.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 826 to 790 (-4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Loyal, 1912 to 1979

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912In the archiveLoyal, Wis
  3. 1930Born hereJerome P. Theisen is born here
  4. 1950Born hereMichael Phair is born here
  5. 1952Born hereMary Lazich is born here
  6. 1979On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Loyal, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Loyal, Wis1912Loyal, Wis
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Loyal Wisconsin Downtown looking north WIS982015Loyal Wisconsin Downtown looking north WIS98Loyal United Methodist Church2015Loyal United Methodist ChurchLoyal Historical Society2015Loyal Historical SocietyLoyal Historical Society Train Station2015Loyal Historical Society Train StationCentral Wisconsin Agribusiness Innovation Center2014Central Wisconsin Agribusiness Innovation Center
On the map

Loyal on the map, 1979 to 1984

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

Loyal on the 1979 USGS mapLoyal on the 1984 USGS map1979Loyal West 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 Loyal.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Loyal, Wis
Retake this viewLoyal, Wis, 1912

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Loyal’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Loyal, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,308

Between 46 and 1,308 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Loyal

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Jerome P. TheisenAmerican Benedictine monk · b. 1930
Mary LazichAmerican politician · b. 1952
Michael PhairCanadian politician · b. 1950
Sandra A. GregoryUnited States general
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Lion SchoolschoolMack SchoolschoolRoss SchoolschoolSunny Knoll Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Loyal
Pine GroveSaint AnthonyTrinity

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.

EatonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townYorkIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBeaverIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShermanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Loyal’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.