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History · Ontario

Ontario’s post office opened in 1857, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Charles Lord House. Below: maps from 1926 on and the census since 1880.

1857first post office
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ontario began

When was Ontario founded?

1857

The Ontario post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 179 in 18802020 census: 534169 years
Founding year: the first Ontario post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Ontario’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ontario’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
The story so far

Ontario, in brief

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

Ontario is a village in Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 534 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 554 to 534 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Ontario, 1857 to 1926

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Ontario post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912BuiltCharles Lord House is built
  5. 1926On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ontario, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Ontario, Wisconsin public library2024Ontario, Wisconsin public libraryOntario, Wisconsin post office2024Ontario, Wisconsin post officeOntario, Wisconsin2023Ontario, WisconsinBrookwood High School2023Brookwood High SchoolCommercial district2015Commercial districtWIMap-doton-Ontario2005WIMap-doton-Ontario
On the map

Ontario on the map, 1926 to 1983

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

Ontario on the 1926 USGS mapOntario on the 1965 USGS mapOntario on the 1983 USGS map1926La Farge sheet · 1:62,500

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Ontario

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1998
Charles Lord House
Charles Lord House, built 1912
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
All 1 listings
Charles Lord HouseBuilding · listed 1998

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Ontario, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 554

Between 179 and 554 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ontario’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ontario

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

See all →
Marc MitscherUnited States admiral · b. 1887
B
Bob WoodAmerican basketball player · b. 1921
John J. EschAmerican Congressman · b. 1861
B
Barbara GronemusAmerican politician · b. 1931
Charles R. SavageAmerican politician · b. 1906
Dexter BeanRacecar driver · b. 1987
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

WhitestownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSheldonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ontario’s history

What year was Ontario founded?

The Ontario post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Ontario?

One place: the Charles Lord House (listed 1998).

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.