Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the George Halada Farmstead. Below: maps from 1954 on.
The Montpelier post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ellisville (1862) and Pilsen (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montpelier is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Montpelier’s 53.0 sits above most of its state (89% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Montpelier’s history is told.
Montpelier had its own post office from 1862 to 1890. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Montpelier yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Montpelier ( mont-PEEL-yər) is a town in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,362 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1862. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,306 to 1,362 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltGeorge Halada Farmstead is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Montpelier. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Montpelier.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Montpelier itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Montpelier post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Montpelier is more historic than 82% 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.
One place: the George Halada Farmstead (listed 1993).
35% of Montpelier’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
