Founding year: the first McMillan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives McMillan’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McMillan is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of McMillan’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 McMillan’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 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 McMillan’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The outline of the six-mile square that would become McMillan was first surveyed in August/September 1851 by a crew working for the U.S. government. In November 1853 another crew marked its section corners, walking through the woods and wading the streams, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description: This Township contains several small swamps, and some of considerable size. The(sic) is a great part of the land which is of poor quality, particularly so, that part of it which contains Hemlock & Fir. The Soil(?) a poor quality, being clay [undecipherable] and rough & uneven. There is a great part of it that the rocks lay(?) on the surface. The land which contains Hardwood(?) is of good quality & would make good farming land(?).
Passages that mention McMillan, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 565Read the page →
Read the text
A logging railroad extended from the village of McMillan six miles into this town, hauling the logs to the McMillan Brothers' mill at the village of McMillan. This mill has shut down for good for want of timber. There are two cheese factories in this town.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 507Read the page →
Read the text
The village of McMillan voted for incorporation in November, 1891, and ■ G. H. Reynolds, who was at the time the bookkeeper for McMillan Brothers, who operated the saw mill in the village, was elected supervisor in the following spring, and became its first representative in the county board.
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
McMillan, 1881 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The McMillan post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does McMillan rank for history?
McMillan is more historic than 35% 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.
How old are the homes in McMillan?
15% of McMillan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
