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History · Mount Ida

Mount Ida’s post office opened in 1857, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1900 on and old-book passages.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Mount Ida began

When was Mount Ida founded?

1857

The Mount Ida post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Werley (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 561169 years
Founding year: the first Mount Ida post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mount Ida’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 Mount Ida are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1984. Watch Mount Ida change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mount Ida’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Ida’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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On the map

Mount Ida on the map, 1900 to 1984

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

Mount Ida on the 1900 USGS mapMount Ida on the 1962 USGS mapMount Ida on the 1984 USGS map1900Lancaster sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story so far

Mount Ida, in brief

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

Mount Ida is a town in Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 561 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Mount Ida and Werley are located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1857. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 561 in 2010, 561 in 2020.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Mount Ida, 1881–1900

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

The town of Woodman was created in 1864, Mount Hope in 1865, and Mount Ida in 1877. The location and boundaries of these towns are shown on the map opposite the title page. COUNTY OFFICERS.
History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 138Read the page →
Read the text

The town of Woodman was created in 1864, Mount Hope in 1865, and Mount Ida in 1877. The location and boundaries of these towns are shown on the map opposite the title page. COUNTY OFFICERS.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A post-office called Mount Ida, with a store (both kept by Richard Buggins) and a blacksmith shop, has been located on the Military Road in Section 29 since early in the fifties, but the place has hardly risen to the dignity of a village. There is a Baptist church on Section 19 near the post-office.
History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 708Read the page →
Read the text

A post-office called Mount Ida, with a store (both kept by Richard Buggins) and a blacksmith shop, has been located on the Military Road in Section 29 since early in the fifties, but the place has hardly risen to the dignity of a village. There is a Baptist church on Section 19 near the post-office.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tains fifteen schoolhouses. The village of Fennimore Center was laid out in 1868. Previous to this, or in July, 1862, the first house had been moved to the '' Center " by Mr. John G. Perkins. Fennimore Center contains two churches, one Methodist Episcopal, and organized as early as 1849; the other.…
[History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin1881 · page 860Read the page →
Read the text

tains fifteen schoolhouses. The village of Fennimore Center was laid out in 1868. Previous to this, or in July, 1862, the first house had been moved to the '' Center " by Mr. John G. Perkins. Fennimore Center contains two churches, one Methodist Episcopal, and organized as early as 1849; the other. Advent, There is also a church at Mount Ida, in this township. The village comprises in its limits three general merchandise stores, doing a good business, two blacksmith and wagon shops, one harness-shop, two shoe-shops, one hotel, two saloons, and has two physicians. In 1879, the building of the narrow gauge railroad through from Woodman to Lancaster, and passing through Fennimore, gave added importance to the village, and, sur-

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

Mount Ida, 1857 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Mount Ida post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Werley post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1925Post officeThe Mount Ida post office closes
  7. 1930Post officeThe Werley post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Mount Ida

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

See all →
Clifford D. SimakAmerican writer, journalist · b. 1904
Anne Sewell YoungAmerican astronomer · b. 1871
John J. BlaineAmerican politician · b. 1875
Castello Newton HolfordAmerican novelist · b. 1845
George Barnett12th Commandant of the Marine Corps · b. 1859
William Simon U'RenAmerican lawyer and political activist · b. 1859
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Mount Ida had its own post office from 1857 to 1925. Another post office, Werley, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mount Ida
1857–1925
Werley
1879–1930
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Werley
Gone or out of use
Croft QuarryminePlum SchoolschoolRogers Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mount Ida
BorahPrairie

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.

Mount HopeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth LancasterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFennimoreIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarionIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mount Ida’s history

What year was Mount Ida founded?

The Mount Ida post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.