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History · New Haven

New Haven’s post office opened in 1865, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1870.

1865first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How New Haven began

When was New Haven founded?

1865

The New Haven post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Big Spring (1854), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 894 in 18702020 census: 680161 years
Founding year: the first New Haven post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about New Haven’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 New Haven are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1975. Watch New Haven change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Haven’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

New Haven on the map, 1902 to 1975

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

New Haven on the 1902 USGS mapNew Haven on the 1958 USGS mapNew Haven on the 1975 USGS map1902Briggsville 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 New Haven.

The story so far

New Haven, in brief

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

New Haven is a town in Adams County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 680 at the 2020 census, up from 655 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Big Spring is located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1865. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 655 to 680 (+4%).

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

Timeline

New Haven, 1854 to 1904

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Big Spring post office opens
  3. 1865Post officeThe New Haven post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe New Haven post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1904Post officeThe Big Spring 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
People over time

New Haven, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 894

Between 511 and 894 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Haven’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to New Haven

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

See all →
Frederick Jackson TurnerAmerican historian · b. 1861
Zona GaleAmerican author and playwright · b. 1874
Russell W. PetersonAmerican politician and chemist · b. 1916
Daryl MoreyAmerican basketball executive · b. 1972
James J. LindsayUnited States general · b. 1932
John Edward KelleyAmerican politician, South Dakota · b. 1853
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

New Haven had its own post office from 1865 to 1881. Another post office, Big Spring, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Big Spring
1854–1904
New Haven
1865–1881
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Big Spring
Gone or out of use
Badger Valley SchoolschoolGaffney AirportairportNorlings Landing FieldairportStafford SchoolschoolWard Schoolschool

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.

JacksonIts storyC−Douglas1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDell PrairieIts storyCBriggsvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLewistonIts storyCOxfordIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about New Haven’s history

What year was New Haven founded?

The New Haven post office opened in 1865, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

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.