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CHistory
History · Pelican

13% of Pelican’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #268 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1966 on.

0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Pelican’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Pelican’s history

How historic is Pelican?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Pelican’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pelican is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #268 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 Pelican’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194012.8% of homes (±5.8) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 34%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 26%

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 Pelican’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.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Pelican’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pelican’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pelican’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view"The last gleam" sunset on Pelican Lake: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Pelican, in brief

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

Pelican is a town in Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,809 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Malvern is located in the town. The town took its name from Pelican Lake.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,764 in 2010, 2,809 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Pelican, 1902 to 1966

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Malvern post office opens
  3. 1906Post officeThe Malvern post office closes
  4. 1921In the archive"The last gleam" sunset on Pelican Lake
  5. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Pelican, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
"The last gleam" sunset on Pelican Lake1921"The last gleam" sunset on Pelican Lake
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Pelican on the map, 1966 to 1982

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

Pelican on the 1966 USGS mapPelican on the 1982 USGS map1966Rhinelander 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 Pelican.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

"The last gleam" sunset on Pelican Lake
Retake this view"The last gleam" sunset on Pelican Lake, 1921

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Pelican’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Pelican

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

See all →
A
Alexander H. SmithAmerican mycologist · b. 1904
D
Dale WassermanAmerican playwright · b. 1914
J
Justin Orvel SchmidtAmerican entomologist · b. 1947
M
Mary CzajaAmerican politician in Wisconsin · b. 1963
M
Merton W. BakerUnited States general · b. 1924
A
Armin LandeckAmerican printmaker and educator · b. 1905
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Malvern, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Malvern
Gone or out of use
Ferndale SchoolschoolLake George SchoolschoolPine Grove SchoolschoolTrotier SchoolschoolWayside Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Pelican
Northland Memorial Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rhinelander4 historic placesB+StellaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEnterpriseIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrescentIts storyC−MonicoIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPine LakeIts storyC−

Questions about Pelican’s history

How does Pelican rank for history?

Pelican is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #268 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 Pelican?

13% of Pelican’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1980.

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).

From the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.