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History · Mackford

Mackford’s post office opened in 1848, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1955 on.

1848first post office
0on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mackford began

When was Mackford founded?

1848

The Mackford post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Tachorah (1846), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 495178 years
Founding year: the first Mackford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mackford’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 Mackford are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mackford’s homes were built before 1954.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Mackford.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mackford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mackford’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 so far

Mackford, in brief

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

Mackford is a town in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 495 at the 2020 census. The city of Markesan is surrounded by the town.

Its first post office opened in 1848. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 560 to 495 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Mackford, 1846 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Tachorah post office opens
  3. 1848Post officeThe Mackford post office opens
  4. 1856Post officeThe Tachorah post office closes
  5. 1894Post officeThe Mackford post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1955On 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

Mackford on the map, 1955 to 1980

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

Mackford on the 1955 USGS mapMackford on the 1980 USGS map1955Fox Lake 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 Mackford.

Famous people

Famous people close to Mackford

Nobody well known was born in Mackford itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Carrie Chapman CattAmerican social reformer, suffragist · b. 1859
Laura RamseyAmerican actress · b. 1982
Elda Emma AndersonAmerican physicist · b. 1899
Harry Gordon SelfridgeAmerican born English businessman · b. 1858
Greg StiemsmaAmerican basketball player · b. 1985
Winifred Edgerton MerrillAmerican mathematician · b. 1862
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Mackford had its own post office from 1848 to 1894. Another post office, Tachorah, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tachorah
1846–1856
Mackford
1848–1894
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Bosveld Brothers Landing StripairportBroeder QuarrymineDel Monte Corporation Landing StripairportEvergreen SchoolschoolLonely Cedar SchoolschoolMackford Prairie SchoolschoolSunny Hillside Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mackford
Mackford UnionTichora

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.

MarkesanIts storyB+ManchesterIts storyB−Fox LakeIts storyC+Alto1 historic placeA−Green LakeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mackford’s history

What year was Mackford founded?

The Mackford post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.