Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1890 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Medina is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Medina’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.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Medina’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Medina. 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 Medina.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Medina yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Medina is a town in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,344 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Deansville is located in the town.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,376 to 1,344 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Medina, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1844, the township or precinct of Sun Prairie was subdivided by the organization of the towns of York and Bristol, from its northern half, and in 1848 the town of Medina was organized, leaving a township of the usual dimensions, six miles square. Its
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Medina lies on the eastern boundary line of the county, which separates it from the town of Waterloo, in Jefferson County, and is sixteen miles northeast of Madison. The town is well watered in the northern part by Waterloo Creek, which enters it on Section 5, passing out after a circuitous route on Section 12. This stream furnishes some excellent waterpower. There is but little prairie land in Medina, the most of the land being oak openings, interspersed with about an equal quantity of marsh or -meadow. T^he Watertown line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad passes through the center of the town, entering on Section 12, and passing out at Section 6. The lands are very rich, and productive.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of Maaomanie— completed to Madison in 1854. One of the branches of this xoad, called the Madison, Sun Fnine and Watertown road, leaves Madison in a northeast direction, and the county on section 12, in town of Medina— completed to Madison in 1868? The Madison and FOrtage xoad leaves Madison, and passes directly north, leaving the county on section 1, townof Viennar-completed to Madison in 1871.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Sun Prairie, all the present towns of Bristol, Sun Prairie, Medina and Yorii, and ' the village of Sun Prairie ; the town ot Rome, all of what now constitutes Oregon, Fitchburg and Dunn ; the town of Albion, so much as is now Albion and Christiana ; Rutland is as first -constituted ; and so also is Dun-kirk, and the village of Stoughton. These six towns are usually designated as "the original towns of the county."
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Medina itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Medina is more historic than 44% 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.
18% of Medina’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 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.
