Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #78 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
13 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Oconto Site, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 20 buildings. Below: maps from 1883 on and the census since 1860.
The Oconto post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1869.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oconto is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #78 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold 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 Oconto’s 75.7 sits above most of its state (92% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 35 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% 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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oconto’s history is told.
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.
1883Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oconto.
Oconto is home to Copper Culture State Park, which has remains dated to around 5000 to 6000 BC. It is a burial ground of the Copper Culture Indians. This burial ground is considered to be the oldest cemetery in Wisconsin and one of the oldest in the nation. Their descendants include the Menominee, who have lived here for thousands of years.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltHolt-Balcom Lumber Company Office is builtBuiltGov. Edward Scofield House is built
Born hereDavid G. Classon is born here
Born hereFay Holderness is born hereBuiltFirst Church of Christ, Scientist is built
Born hereRed Mack is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltOconto Site is builtWeddings 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 Oconto. 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 Oconto.
Between 885 and 5,629 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oconto’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Oconto’s post office has been open since 1852.
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 Oconto post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1869.
Oconto is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #78 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.
13 listings: 11 buildings, 1 historic district, the West Main Street Historic District, with 20 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 35 historic buildings in all.
28% of Oconto’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (13), 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.
