Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #9 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 40 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1880.
Mayville dates its founding to 1845 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mayville is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #9 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Mayville’s 84.2 sits above most of its state (93% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 44 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mayville’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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 year, then a sheet.
1892Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mayville.
Mayville was platted in 1845, by the May brothers and others, and named for the former. A post office has been in operation at Mayville since 1847. The city was incorporated in 1885.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Mayville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the ore bed, having a varying thickness averaging, perhaps, fifteen or twenty feet. The mine is situated a short distance west of the center of Section 13. Near it is the furnace, and a little further west is the village of Iron Ridge. Three-quarters of a mile north of this point is the Mayville mine, or what is known as the Mayville ore bed, though the village of Mayville is four
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the ore bed, having a varying thickness averaging, perhaps, fifteen or twenty feet. The mine is situated a short distance west of the center of Section 13. Near it is the furnace, and a little further west is the village of Iron Ridge. Three-quarters of a mile north of this point is the Mayville mine, or what is known as the Mayville ore bed, though the village of Mayville is four
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
GOTTIilEB ALBERT, proprietor of Albert's Hotel and Restaurant, Mayville; born in Russia Jan, 6, ISJl. At (lie age <if 21, he went to Prussia and served five years in the Pru.ssian Army; came to America in 1852, locating in Mayville, He Icirned the trade of carpenter, wagon maker and millwright in Prussia. Began business as blacksmith and wagon-maker in Mayville, and sold out his shop and factory in 1872 ; sold Waupun pumps for some time, but has turned over the bu.siness to his son Julius.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltWhite Limestone School is built
Born hereEdward Sauerhering is born hereBuiltHollenstein Wagon and Carriage Factory is built
Born hereBert Husting is born hereBuiltBeaumont Hotel is built
In the archiveMain St
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRob Schrab is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mayville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mayville.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mayville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,051 people in 1880 to 5,196 in 2020, 4 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mayville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Mayville’s post office has been open since 1847.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1845, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mayville’s post office opened in 1847, and the census of 1880 counted 1,051 people here.
Mayville is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #9 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the White Limestone School (listed 1976, the first), and 1 historic district, the Main Street Historic District, with 40 contributing buildings. 44 historic buildings in all.
32% of Mayville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1967.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1911
1911
