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History · Norwood

Norwood’s post office opened in 1880, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1973 on and old-book passages.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Norwood began

When was Norwood founded?

1880

The Norwood post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Phlox (1880), Rolling (1882) and Mayking (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 907146 years
Founding year: the first Norwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Norwood’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 Norwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Norwood, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Norwood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Norwood’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Norwood had its own post office from 1880 to 1888. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Norwood
1880–1888
Phlox
1880–1963
Rolling
1882–1884
Mayking
1894–1902
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Phlox
Gone or out of use
Apple Grove SchoolschoolMaple Grove SchoolschoolMayking SchoolschoolRag Wing AirportairportSanborn ChapelchurchSugarbush Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Norwood
Norwood

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Norwood, in brief

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

Norwood is a town in Langlade County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 907 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Phlox is located in the town. Visit the town website.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 913 in 2010, 907 in 2020.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Norwood in 1922

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

Norwood township was once a part of Hutchinson township, Shawano County, and also of the old town of Mill, Shawano township. It was not a part of the original New County, detached from Oconto County in 1879. By the act of the state legislature, creating Langlade County, February 19, 1881, Norwood t…
History of Langlade County, Wisconsin, from U. S. government survey to present time, with biographical sketches1922 · page 220Read the page →
Read the text

Norwood township was once a part of Hutchinson township, Shawano County, and also of the old town of Mill, Shawano township. It was not a part of the original New County, detached from Oconto County in 1879. By the act of the state legislature, creating Langlade County, February 19, 1881, Norwood township was attached to Langlade County.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first school meeting was held September 8, 1879 in Hutchinson township. In 1880 this district was changed to Milltown district No. 2. In 1881, when Norwood was attached to Langlade County it became District No. 1 of Norwood. April 13, 1881, the settlers planned a log raising "bee" for the erect…
History of Langlade County, Wisconsin, from U. S. government survey to present time, with biographical sketches1922 · page 221Read the page →
Read the text

The first school meeting was held September 8, 1879 in Hutchinson township. In 1880 this district was changed to Milltown district No. 2. In 1881, when Norwood was attached to Langlade County it became District No. 1 of Norwood. April 13, 1881, the settlers planned a log raising "bee" for the erection of the school house. Previously school was held at the home of Charles W. Moss, while the school (log) was

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.

Timeline

Norwood, 1880 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Norwood post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Phlox post office opens
  4. 1882Post officeThe Rolling post office opens
  5. 1884Post officeThe Rolling post office closes
  6. 1888Post officeThe Norwood post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1963Post officeThe Phlox post office closes
  9. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
On the map

Norwood on the map, 1973 to 1990

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

Norwood on the 1973 USGS mapNorwood on the 1990 USGS map1973Mattoon 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 Norwood.

Famous people

Famous people close to Norwood

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

See all →
John BradleyNavy corpsman in World War II, flagraiser at Iw… · b. 1923
D. Wayne LukasAmerican horse trainer · b. 1935
Ernest J. DawleyUnited States Army Major general · b. 1886
Joe PiskulaAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1984
J
Justin BergAmerican baseball player · b. 1984
C
Chester J. RobertsAmerican football player and coach · b. 1889
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

HutchinsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMenomineeIts storyDRollingIts storyC+PolarIts storyC+AntigoIts storyC+

Questions about Norwood’s history

What year was Norwood founded?

The Norwood post office opened in 1880, 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, 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.