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–Not graded
History · Melrose

22% of Melrose’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Melrose’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Melrose’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Melrose’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Melrose’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMelrose Bridge, Spanning Black River at…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Melrose, in brief

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

Melrose is a village in Jackson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 544 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Melrose.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 470 in 2010, 470 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Melrose, 1886 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Ox Bow post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Ox Bow post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Melrose, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Melrose Bridge, Spanning Black River at State Trunk Highway 108Date?Melrose Bridge, Spanning Black River at State Trunk H…
Today7 recent
Melrose, Wisconsin water tower2023Melrose, Wisconsin water towerMelrose, Wisconsin 042023Melrose, Wisconsin 04Melrose, Wisconsin 032023Melrose, Wisconsin 03Melrose, Wisconsin 022023Melrose, Wisconsin 02Melrose, Wisconsin 012023Melrose, Wisconsin 01MelroseWisconsinSignWIS71TerminusWIS108Terminus2010MelroseWisconsinSignWIS71TerminusWIS108TerminusMelroseWisconsinDowntownWIS542010MelroseWisconsinDowntownWIS54
On the map

Melrose on the map in 1969

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Melrose.

Melrose on the 1969 USGS map1969North Bend 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 Melrose.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Melrose Bridge, Spanning Black River at State Trunk Highway 108
Retake this viewMelrose Bridge, Spanning Black River at State Trunk Highway 108

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Melrose’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Melrose, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 551

Between 144 and 551 people in every census since 1880.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Melrose’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Melrose

Nobody well known was born in Melrose itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Deke SlaytonAmerican astronaut · b. 1924
Hamlin GarlandAmerican novelist, poet, essayist, short story … · b. 1860
Doane RobinsonAmerican historian · b. 1856
Edgar Stillman KelleyAmerican composer, conductor, teacher, and writ… · b. 1857
R
Robert Herman FlockAmerican Roman-Catholic bishop working in Boliv… · b. 1956
C
Carlie HansonAmerican singer · b. 2000
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Ox Bow, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Little Red SchoolschoolOxbow SchoolschoolWest India Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Melrose
Oxbow

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Little FallsIts storyCIrvingIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth BendIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFranklinIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Melrose’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.