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History · Mattoon

Mattoon’s post office opened in 1895, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1910.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Mattoon began

When was Mattoon founded?

1895

The Mattoon post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 868 in 19102020 census: 357131 years
Founding year: the first Mattoon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mattoon’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 Mattoon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mattoon’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mattoon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mattoon’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

Mattoon, in brief

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

Mattoon is a village in Shawano County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 357 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1895. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 438 to 357 (-18%).

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

By decade

Mattoon, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Mattoon Wisconsin Sign County D looking south2015Mattoon Wisconsin Sign County D looking southMattoon Wisconsin Downtown 2 looking south2015Mattoon Wisconsin Downtown 2 looking southMattoon Wisconsin Downtown 1 looking south2015Mattoon Wisconsin Downtown 1 looking southMattoon Wisconsin Community Hall2015Mattoon Wisconsin Community Hall
Every building

Mattoon, building by building, 1909

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Mattoon fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Mattoon, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 868

Between 357 and 868 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Mattoon

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

See all →
John BradleyNavy corpsman in World War II, flagraiser at Iw… · b. 1923
D. Wayne LukasAmerican horse trainer · b. 1935
Ernest J. DawleyUnited States Army Major general · b. 1886
Joe PiskulaAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1984
J
Justin BergAmerican baseball player · b. 1984
C
Chester J. RobertsAmerican football player and coach · b. 1889

Questions about Mattoon’s history

What year was Mattoon founded?

The Mattoon post office opened in 1895, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.