The story
Read it all →How Merrimac came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Merrimac.
A post office called Merrimac was established in 1855. The village was named after the Merrimack River, in New England.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Merrimac
Merrimac dates to 1855, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1880.
1855founded
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Quick answers
How Merrimac began
When was Merrimac founded?
1855
Merrimac dates its founding to 1855 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
First census: 147 in 18802020 census: 1,247171 years
How historic is Merrimac?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Merrimac’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Merrimac is more historic than 29% 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 Merrimac’s overall grade.
Founding era1855, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.2% of homes (±3.7) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−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 29%
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 Merrimac’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1855.
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 (±3.7 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Merrimac’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · People over time
Merrimac, census by census
Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1940, then more than doubled.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Merrimac’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Merrimac on the map, 1895 to 1994
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Merrimac. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Baraboo sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Merrimac.
Timeline
Merrimac, 1855 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1855FoundingMerrimac is established
- 1880
In the archiveWisconsin River near Merrimac - 1890
In the archiveWisconsin River near Merrimac - 1895
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 527
By decade
Merrimac, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1880s–1890s7 items
1880Wisconsin River near Merrimac1890Wisconsin River near Merrimac
1898Wisconsin River near Merrimac, Wis., looking up
1898Wisconsin River near Merrimac, Wis. looking up
1898Wisconsin River near Merrimac, Wis. looking down
1899Wisconsin River near Merrimac, Wis. looking up
1899Wisconsin River near Merrimac, Wis. looking up1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
2009
2009
2004Then & 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.
Retake this viewWisconsin River near Merrimac, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Merrimac’s page.
Retake this view · +15Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Maple Bluff EstatesMoon Valley
Gone or out of use
Chapel Hill SchoolschoolLittle Churchschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Merrimac
HillKingstonSaint Johns
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Merrimac’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Merrimac’s history
What year was Merrimac founded?
In 1855, according to Wikidata. the census of 1880 counted 147 people here.
How does Merrimac rank for history?
Merrimac is more historic than 29% 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 Merrimac?
10% of Merrimac’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1989.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (7), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.