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B−History
History · Minocqua

Minocqua’s post office opened in 1888, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #219 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Minocqua was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1966 on.

1888first post office
4on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Minocqua’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Minocqua began

When was Minocqua founded?

1888

The Minocqua post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 5,062138 years

How historic is Minocqua?

B−

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Minocqua’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Minocqua is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #219 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Minocqua’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.5% of homes (±2.9) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register4 listings, 7.9 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 40%

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 Minocqua’s 7.9 sits above most of its state (72% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Minocqua’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 historic places in Minocqua

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Boesel, Ella M., Boathouse
Boesel, Ella M., Boathouse, built 1935Orth, Phillip, Boathouse, built 1926Walter, Luther and Anna, Boathouse, built 1930Texaco Service Station
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Bungalow/Craftsman2
Craftsman1
All 4 listings
Boesel, Ella M., BoathouseBuilding · listed 1997Orth, Phillip, BoathouseBuilding · listed 2005Walter, Luther and Anna, BoathouseBuilding · listed 2005Texaco Service StationBuilding · listed 2023

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

The story

How Minocqua came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Minocqua.

Read it all →

Minocqua was officially organized in the year 1889. Although there are varying explanations regarding the meaning of the word "Minocqua", most credit its origin to the Island's first inhabitants, the Ojibwe. The town Minocqua is named after "Ninocqua", the Ojibwe name that is defined as "noon-day-rest".

In the late 1800s, Minocqua was a logging town. Minocqua Clawson was the first child born in the town. Clawson Hill was a famous landmark in town, and it is now the current location of the Pointe Resort & Hotel at the south end of the Highway 51 bridge.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Minocqua, 1888 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Minocqua post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912In the archiveKlumb & Pedder Boat House
  5. 1926BuiltOrth, Phillip, Boathouse is built
  6. 1930BuiltWalter, Luther and Anna, Boathouse is built
  7. 1935BuiltBoesel, Ella M., Boathouse is built
  8. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Minocqua, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s6 items
Klumb & Pedder Boat House1912Klumb & Pedder Boat HouseScene on the lake1913Scene on the lakeMinocqua, Wisconsin, showing the boat houses1913Minocqua, Wisconsin, showing the boat housesHazelhurst Bridge and Clawson's Point1913Hazelhurst Bridge and Clawson's PointDepot of C.M. & St. P. [i.e. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway] Line at Minoqua, Wisconsin1913Depot of C.M. & St. P. [i.e. Chicago, Milwaukee & St.…Clawson's Point1919Clawson's Point
1920s–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
On the map

Minocqua on the map, 1966 to 1982

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

Minocqua on the 1966 USGS mapMinocqua on the 1982 USGS map1966Minocqua sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

Klumb & Pedder Boat House
Retake this viewKlumb & Pedder Boat House, 1912

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Minocqua’s post office has been open since 1888.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Rantz
Gone or out of use
Franks Seaplane BaseairportHickson Schoolschool

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

Help out

Finish Minocqua’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewKlumb & Pedder Boat House: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

WoodruffIts storyC−Lac du Flambeau1 historic placeC+Hazelhurst2 historic placesB−Little RiceIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLynneIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEmeryIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFifield3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Minocqua’s history

What year was Minocqua founded?

The Minocqua post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Minocqua rank for history?

Minocqua is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #219 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.

What is on the National Register in Minocqua?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Boesel, Ella M., Boathouse (listed 1997, the first).

How old are the homes in Minocqua?

8% of Minocqua’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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.