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Neillsville Downtown Historic DistrictNeillsville Downtown Historic District · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0
AHistory
History · Neillsville

Neillsville’s post office opened in 1856, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it

15 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1909 on.

1856first post office
15on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Neillsville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Neillsville began

When was Neillsville founded?

1856

The Neillsville post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,384170 years

How historic is Neillsville?

A

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Neillsville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Neillsville is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Neillsville’s overall grade.
Founding era1856, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194037.8% of homes (±6.9) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register15 listings, 35 historic buildings, 157 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 86%
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 Neillsville’s 157 sits above most of its state (96% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 35 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). 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 Neillsville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register15 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Neillsville’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Neillsville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHigh School assembly room: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

15 historic places in Neillsville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
15
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
35
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Clark County Jail
Clark County Jail, built 1897Neillsville Downtown Historic DistrictNeillsville Post Office, built 1937First Church of Christ, Scientist, built 1916Neillsville Masonic Temple Lodge No. 163, built 1928George W. and Sarah Trogner HouseForrest D. and Marian Calway House, built 1917John and Maria Hein HouseDecatur and Kate Dickinson House, built 1891Charles C. and Katharyn Sniteman HouseWilliam B. and Jennie Tufts House, built 1934Wisconsin Pavilion, built 1964Omaha Hotel, built 1892Neillsville StandpipeCharles and Theresa Cornelius House, built 1909
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Modern Movement3
Queen Anne3
Classical Revival2
Prairie School2
Romanesque Revival1
Romanesque1
Clark County JailRomanesque Revival · Built 1897
Neillsville Downtown Historic DistrictRomanesque
Neillsville Post OfficeModern Movement · Built 1937
First Church of Christ, ScientistClassical Revival · Built 1916
Neillsville Masonic Temple Lodge No. 163Modern Movement · Built 1928
George W. and Sarah Trogner HouseQueen Anne
Forrest D. and Marian Calway HouseColonial Revival · Built 1917
John and Maria Hein HouseQueen Anne
All 15 listings
Decatur and Kate Dickinson HouseBuilding · listed 2007Charles C. and Katharyn Sniteman HouseBuilding · listed 2011William B. and Jennie Tufts HouseBuilding · listed 2012Wisconsin PavilionBuilding · listed 2012Omaha HotelBuilding · listed 2013Neillsville StandpipeStructure · listed 2013Charles and Theresa Cornelius HouseBuilding · listed 2013

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

The story

How Neillsville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Neillsville.

Read it all →

The Ojibwe were the earliest known residents of the Neillsville area. The first settlers of European descent in the area were James O'Neill and his party, who arrived around 1845, looking for a location to build a sawmill along the Black River. The city was named in honor of O'Neill, as was O'Neill Creek, which runs through the center of the city and drains into the Black River.

In 1854, O’Neill's Mill, as Neillsville was originally called, was selected as the county seat of Clark County. Neillsville was platted on April 14, 1855, and incorporated in April 1882.

A Winnebago Indian boarding school was operated by the Evangelical and Reformed Church on the west side of Neillsville from 1921 to 1957.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Neillsville, 1856 to 1937

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Neillsville post office opens
  3. 1897BuiltClark County Jail is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1909In the archiveHigh School assembly room
  6. 1910In the archiveBirds-eye view of Neillsville, Wisconsin
  7. 1916BuiltFirst Church of Christ, Scientist is built
  8. 1916Born hereVirginia Satir is born here
  9. 1928BuiltNeillsville Masonic Temple Lodge No. 163 is built
  10. 1937BuiltNeillsville Post Office is built
By decade

Neillsville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s2 items
High School assembly room1909High School assembly roomBirds-eye view of Neillsville, Wisconsin1910Birds-eye view of Neillsville, Wisconsin
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
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.

High School assembly room
Retake this viewHigh School assembly room, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Neillsville’s history

What year was Neillsville founded?

The Neillsville post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Neillsville rank for history?

Neillsville is more historic than 86% 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.

What is on the National Register in Neillsville?

15 listings: 13 buildings, among them the Clark County Jail (listed 1978, the first), 1 historic district, the Neillsville Downtown Historic District, with 17 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 35 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Neillsville?

38% of Neillsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1953.

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 (2), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (15), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.