Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #255 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1910.
The Oostburg post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ostburgh (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oostburg is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #255 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Oostburg’s 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.
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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oostburg’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oostburg.
The Village of Oostburg was incorporated in 1909. It was settled by primarily Dutch immigrants, and named after a city in the Netherlands.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Oostburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
OOSTBURG Oostburg is also a station on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad and had no existence until the road was built and placed in operation in 1872. The village has a population of 380, and was separated from the town of Holland and incorporated as a village in 1909. Oostburg is in a flourishing condition, has a Christian Reform church, organized in 1875, grain elevator, grist mill, hotel, several general stores, cheese factory and a blacksmith shop.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oostburg. 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 Oostburg.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Oostburg’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 380 people in 1910 to 3,056 in 2020, 8 times over.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oostburg’s Wikipedia page.
Oostburg’s post office has been open since 1892. Another post office, Ostburgh, opened and closed inside today’s town.
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 Oostburg post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Oostburg is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #255 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.
18% of Oostburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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 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.
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