Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Orfordville Depot. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
The Orfordville post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orfordville is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds 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 Orfordville’s 6.8 sits above most of its state (69% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Orfordville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Orfordville. 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 Orfordville.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Orfordville.
The origin of its name came when a surveyor suggested Orford after a town in New Hampshire. It remained that until the establishment of a post office, when it was confused with Oxford, Wisconsin. The name was then changed to Orfordville at the suggestion of the postmaster general.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Orfordville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Orfordville in the town of Spring Valley became incorporated on June 30, 1900, under the general statutes. The village of Milton in the town of Milton also became incorporated on September 17, under the general statutes.
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.
Born hereGilbert N. Haugen is born here
BuiltOrfordville Depot is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born herePaul John Kvale is born here
In the archiveProject Blue Book report - 1966-03-8666968-Orfordville-WisconsinOne decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 153 people in 1880 to 1,473 in 2020, 9 times over.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Orfordville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Orfordville post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Orfordville is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. 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.
One place: the Orfordville Depot (listed 1988).
19% of Orfordville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
2016
2008
2004