Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of New Chester was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1870.
The New Chester post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Brooks (1915), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Chester is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 New Chester’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 New Chester’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1960, then grew 4-fold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Chester’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of New Chester yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,254 to 1,960 (-13%).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 New Chester. 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 New Chester.
Nobody well known was born in New Chester itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
New Chester had its own post office from 1856 to 1894. Another post office, Brooks, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The New Chester post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
New Chester is more historic than 26% 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.
8% of New Chester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
