Founding year: the first Oconto Falls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Oconto Falls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oconto Falls is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #232 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oconto Falls’ overall grade.
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 Oconto Falls’ 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Oconto Falls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The city was named for the original waterfalls on the Oconto River. According to Menominee storytelling, Manabozho threw a falls across the Oconto River "to protect the Menominee and to keep the sturgeon from getting to the Chippewa".
John and Almira Volk are considered the first European settlers of Oconto Falls, having moved to the region in 1846. Most early settlers were of German, Polish, and French descent. The Volk family established a sawmill along the river, and the lumber industry became the main source of employment.
The Oconto Falls post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Oconto Falls rank for history?
Oconto Falls is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #232 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.
How old are the homes in Oconto Falls?
22% of Oconto Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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