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Northport Waupaca County Wisconsin looking west WIS54Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Northport

Northport’s post office opened in 1859, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and old-book passages.

1859first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Northport began

When was Northport founded?

1859

The Northport post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 459167 years
Founding year: the first Northport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Northport’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 Northport are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Northport’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Northport, in brief

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

Northport is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the town of Mukwa, in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. The community is on Wisconsin Highway 54, approximately two miles northwest of New London. As of the 2010 census, its population is 491.

Its first post office opened in 1859. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 491 to 459 (-7%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Northport in 1890

Passages that mention Northport, cut from the printed page as they were published.

and we got stuck fast in the mud. I had to hitch the team to the hind end of the wagon to pull it out of the hole. Then we traveled on foot to Northport. It was raining hard when we got there. At Northport I got a team and went back for the baggage. It took two days from Northport to reach our new …
History of Waupaca county, Wisconsin1890 · page 131Read the page →
Read the text

and we got stuck fast in the mud. I had to hitch the team to the hind end of the wagon to pull it out of the hole. Then we traveled on foot to Northport. It was raining hard when we got there. At Northport I got a team and went back for the baggage. It took two days from Northport to reach our new home.

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.

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.

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On the map

Northport on the map, 1969 to 1993

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

Northport on the 1969 USGS mapNorthport on the 1984 USGS mapNorthport on the 1993 USGS map1969Northport sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Northport.

Famous people

Famous people close to Northport

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

See all →
Gerald NyeAmerican politician and antiwar activist · b. 1892
E
Everett C. OlsonU.S. paleontologist, zoologist, and geologist · b. 1910
R
Robert F. MorneauCatholic bishop · b. 1938
Edward E. BrowneU.S. Representative from Wisconsin · b. 1868
Lyman E. BarnesAmerican politician · b. 1855
Benjamin P. BirdsallAmerican politician · b. 1858

Questions about Northport’s history

What year was Northport founded?

The Northport post office opened in 1859, 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 →
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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 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.