Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1954 on and old-book passages.
The Newton post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Newtonburg (1855), Northeim (1870) and Rube (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Newton is more historic than 32% 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 Newton’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.
Newton’s post office has been open since 1930. Four 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Newton’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Newton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Newton is a town in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,122 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1930. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,264 to 2,122 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Newton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
resent our family in Christian names so closely that I have concluded the family was more probably allied with that one in the north part of Lancashire. perhaps Whettington parish or one adjacent. In Domesday Survey mention is made of Neutona (Newton) a; being held by Earl Tostey, and the Newtons of Whettington evidently obtainod their sur name from this manor. I have the will of William Newton of Whe:- tington, dated August 12, 1554, which mentions a Brvan Newton and sonne Thomas Newton. Later wills and inquisitions contain these sig-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Alexander spent a great amount of time in an effort to find the charge made against Thomas Newton- Savage said it doubtless was witchcraft. Lull personally told me he thought it was adultery, but Alexander has proven this was not the charge and wrote me that he was convinced Thomas Newton was a victim of conspiracy on the part of Roger Ludlow and other enemies of Newton, for it took but one witness to convict of a capital crime. Alexander advised me he had investigated the charges of witchcraft against two of his own ancestors.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereOtto A. Vogel is 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 Newton. 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 Newton.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Newton post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Newton is more historic than 32% 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.
27% of Newton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
