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History · Pella

Pella’s post office opened in 1866, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1970 on.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Pella began

When was Pella founded?

1866

The Pella post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 899160 years
Founding year: the first Pella post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Pella’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pella’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

Pella, in brief

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

Pella is a town in Shawano County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 899 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Leopolis is located partially within the town. There is a census-designated place also called Pella in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1866. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 865 to 899 (+4%).

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

Timeline

Pella, 1866 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Pella post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1934Post officeThe Pella post office closes
  5. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Pella, decade by decade

Today3 recent
PellaWisconsinWelcomeSign2010PellaWisconsinWelcomeSignPellaWisconsinFireDepartment2008PellaWisconsinFireDepartmentPellaWisconsin12008PellaWisconsin1
On the map

Pella on the map, 1970 to 1993

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

Pella on the 1970 USGS mapPella on the 1984 USGS mapPella on the 1993 USGS map1970Clintonville North sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Pella

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

See all →
William Frederick MeggersAmerican physicist · b. 1888
Ada DeerNative American activist, scholar, and civil se… · b. 1935
S
Sheila TouseyAmerican actress · b. 1960
B
Billy ReedMajor League Baseball secondbaseman · b. 1922
Daniel V. SpeckhardAmerican diplomat · b. 1959
L
Lee RemmelSportswriter, Green Bay Packers Public Relation… · b. 1924
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Pella had its own post office from 1866 to 1934.

Pella
1866–1934
18601940today
Gone or out of use
Willow Creek Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Pella
Saint Peter

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.

Belle PlaineIts storyC+HermanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLarrabeeIts storyBGrantIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLeopolisIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Pella’s history

What year was Pella founded?

The Pella post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (3), 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.