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–Not graded
History · Merrimac

36% of Merrimac’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Merrimac Ferry. Below: old-book passages.

1on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Merrimac’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 Merrimac are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Merrimac’s homes were built before 1964.
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Start Merrimac’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Merrimac came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Merrimac.

Read it all →

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.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Merrimac in 1918

Passages that mention Merrimac, cut from the printed page as they were published.

venture of that kind during those days. As there were no railroads he was compelled to ship everything via the steamboat Ellen Haidy on the Wisconsin River to Portage, to meet the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, while his stock he drove to Merrimac, fifteen miles, to the Chicago & Northwest…
A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin1918 · page 865Read the page →
Read the text

venture of that kind during those days. As there were no railroads he was compelled to ship everything via the steamboat Ellen Haidy on the Wisconsin River to Portage, to meet the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, while his stock he drove to Merrimac, fifteen miles, to the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. Furthermore, produce brought only a small price, butter being frequently as low as 5 cents per pound and eggs 8 cents per dozen. In spite of all obstacles he developed a paying and successful business, and in 1905 was enabled to retire

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

Merrimac, 1855 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Merrimack post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1950Post officeThe Merrimack post office closes
  5. 1950Post officeThe Merrimac post office opens
By decade

Merrimac, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Ferry Crossing Bar ^ Grill2013Ferry Crossing Bar ^ GrillColsac III Ferry2012Colsac III FerrySt. Mary Health of the Sick Catholic Church2009St. Mary Health of the Sick Catholic ChurchMerrimacFerryDocksWinter2009MerrimacFerryDocksWinterMerrimac Tower2009Merrimac TowerWIMap-doton-Merrimac2004WIMap-doton-Merrimac
On the National Register

1 historic place in Merrimac

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Merrimac Ferry
Merrimac Ferry
Sites
Merrimac FerrySite

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Merrimac’s post office has been open since 1950. Another post office, Merrimack, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Merrimack
1855–1950
Merrimac
1950–today
18501940today
1cemetery inside Merrimac
Oak Hill

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.

Lake WisconsinIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWest PointIts storyC−

Questions about Merrimac’s history

What is on the National Register in Merrimac?

One place: the Merrimac Ferry (listed 1974).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.