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B+History
History · Meeme

Meeme’s post office opened in 1848, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1954 on.

1848first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Meeme began

When was Meeme founded?

1848

The Meeme post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Osman (1878), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,440178 years

How historic is Meeme?

B+

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Meeme post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Meeme’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Meeme is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Meeme’s overall grade.
Founding era1848, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194027.2% of homes (±6.2) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder

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 Meeme’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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 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 Meeme’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 Meeme are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Meeme, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Meeme.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Meeme’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Meeme’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Meeme had its own post office from 1848 to 1902. Another post office, Osman, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Meeme
1848–1902
Osman
1878–1904
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
OsmanSchool HillSpring Valley
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Meeme
Bethel ChurchHoly TrinityMeeme Center

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Meeme, 1848 to 1954

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Meeme post office opens
  3. 1867Born hereJohn Lorfeld is born here
  4. 1878Post officeThe Osman post office opens
  5. 1882Born hereThomas J. Mahon is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Post officeThe Meeme post office closes
  8. 1904Post officeThe Osman post office closes
  9. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Meeme, in brief

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

Meeme is a town in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,440 at the 2020 census. Its Menominee name is Omīnīw which means "pigeon". The Menominee sold this land to the United States in the 1831 Treaty of Washington. Meeme was one of the four towns into which the county was originally divided on January 9, 1849.

Its first post office opened in 1848. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,446 in 2010, 1,440 in 2020.

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

By decade

Meeme, decade by decade

Today10 recent
School Hill Wisconsin Sign Looking West November 20112011School Hill Wisconsin Sign Looking West November 2011School Hill Wisconsin Looking West November 20112011School Hill Wisconsin Looking West November 2011School Hill Wisconsin Looking North November 20112011School Hill Wisconsin Looking North November 2011School Hill Wisconsin Looking East November 20112011School Hill Wisconsin Looking East November 2011Meeme Wisconsin Sign Looking South2011Meeme Wisconsin Sign Looking SouthMeeme Poll House2011Meeme Poll HouseMeeme Pell House2011Meeme Pell HouseMeeme Leads Elementary Charter School Wisconsin2011Meeme Leads Elementary Charter School WisconsinSchoolHillWisconsinDowntown2008SchoolHillWisconsinDowntownMeemeWiscosninTownHall2008MeemeWiscosninTownHall
On the map

Meeme on the map, 1954 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Meeme. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Meeme on the 1954 USGS mapMeeme on the 1973 USGS mapMeeme on the 1994 USGS map1954St Wendel sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Meeme.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Meeme

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
T
Thomas J. MahonAmerican judge · b. 1882
John LorfeldAmerican farmer, businessman, and politician · b. 1867
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Herman2 historic placesA+LibertyIts storyBCenterville1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSchleswigIts storyC+

Questions about Meeme’s history

What year was Meeme founded?

The Meeme post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Meeme rank for history?

Meeme is more historic than 69% 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 Meeme?

27% of Meeme’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1970.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.