Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The North Freedom post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bessemer (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 North Freedom’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of North Freedom yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
North Freedom is a village along the Baraboo River in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. Population was 603 as reported by the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 701 to 603 (-14%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention North Freedom, cut from the printed page as they were published.
saw-mill, which was soon afterward destroyed by fire. They now have two saw-mills. There are now in the village eight stores, including a drug store ; three blacksmith-shops and a wagon and paint shop, and three churches. John Ladd opened the first store in 1871. A post office was also established this year, with J. M. Haines as Postmaster. The village of North Freedom was surveyed and platted by W. C. T. Newell in 1873. In May, 1871, G. W. Bloom purchased a tract of 27 acres of land in Section 2, and in 1872 it was surveyed and platted and called the village of Bloom. The depot buildings of the Chicago & North- Western Railroad Company are located on Mr. Bloom's plat. There are also a store
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
North Freedom — Village located in the northern part of the Town of Freedom, hence North Freedom. Where the roads meet in the center of the section was originally called Hacketts Corners from the families residing there. When the railroad was built two plats were made, one called Bloom for George W. Bloom and one called North Freedom.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first stone road in the county was built about thirty years ago near the center of section 11 in the Town of Freedom, about a mile south of the Village of North Freedom. The land was very soft and the hauling of hundreds of cords of wood over the road made it practically impassable. The road was built with volunteer labor on the part of the citizens roundabout and the stones placed there have been covered by crushed rock during recent years.
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.
North Freedom’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Bessemer, 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 North Freedom post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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