The Mazomanie post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 1,768170 years
How did Mazomanie get its name?
The village received its name; many years later, Edward Brodhead explained its derivation: "He (Mazomanie) was an Indian chief in our state and was well known to the old gentleman, H.L. Dousman, who said the Indians pronounced it as though it was spelled Man-zo-ma-nie and the English of it is Iron Horse, which I adopted for the name of a railroad town and also f…
How historic is Mazomanie?
A−
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mazomanie is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mazomanie’s 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 Mazomanie’s 177 sits above most of its state (97% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 30 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 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 Mazomanie’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
What precipitated the birth of the town was the advent of the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad in 1855, which passed through the region to connect Milwaukee with La Crosse. The superintendent of the railroad was Edward Brodhead.
By the nation's centennial, Mazomanie had grown to 1,100 people, making it the second largest community in Dane County. Since that time, the village has gained only 350 people, but its small size and slow growth has preserved its nineteenth century character. The village has thirty-four commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, the best known among these being the Mazomanie Railroad Depot which has, with minor changes, remained as it was when it was built in 1857.
Passages that mention Mazomanie, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Dane County, Wisconsin ... preceded by a history of Wisconsin, statistics of the state, and an abstract of its laws and constitution and of the Constitution of the United States1880 · page 915Read the page →
A history of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin1874 · page 401Read the page →
Read the text
The village of Mazomanie is a thriving place of business ; located on sections 9 and 16, and is a station of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, which road passes through sections 16, 17 and 18, in the southwest part of the town. It contains two grist mills, an Episcopal, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Primitive Methodist and Congregational Churches; a good school house, 4 public houses, 2 nurseries, a brewery, and a number of stores and shops.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Madison, Dane County and surrounding towns1877 · page 495Read the page →
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corner of this county; is bounded on the north by the town of West Point, in Coliinibia couDty, on the east jby the towij of Dane, on the Bouth by the town of Berry, and on the west by the town of Mazomanie and the town of Prairie du Sac, in Sauk county. It is not quite a full township, the Wisconsin river cutting ott* the northwest corner of section six.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Dane County, Wisconsin ... preceded by a history of Wisconsin, statistics of the state, and an abstract of its laws and constitution and of the Constitution of the United States1880 · page 935Read the page →
Read the text
The village of Mazomanie was laid out on the lands of Edward Brodhead, Anson Eldred, Moses S. Scott and Eliphalet Cramer, situated on Section 16, in June, 1855, and plat acknowledged by the several parties on July 2, of same year. John Hudson made an addition in July of this year, and, also, an addition was made by John Catlin, Edward Barber and A. W. Curtiss, which is known as Prairie Addition. In October following, William Robinson filed an additional plat. In January, 1856, Alfred Senier recorded a plat, to which he made a second addition in the following June. In 1857, Henry Walker made a record of an addition. In March, 1859, William Robinson and D. W. Bronson recorded an addition ; and, again, April,
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
Mazomanie, 1856 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Mazomanie post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mazomanie rank for history?
Mazomanie is more historic than 80% 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.
What is on the National Register in Mazomanie?
Two places: the Mazomanie Town Hall (listed 1980) and the Mazomanie Downtown Historic District (1992).
How old are the homes in Mazomanie?
25% of Mazomanie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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