Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1927 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pigeon is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. 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 Pigeon’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: 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 →
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 Pigeon’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pigeon yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pigeon is a town in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,018 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Coral City is located in the town.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 891 to 1,018 (+14%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Pigeon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of Pigeon, from April 2, 1861, until Jan. 5, 1875, was a part of the town of Lincoln. As a separate political unit it held its first meeting at Pigeon Falls April 13, 1875.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The date when the first white man located in the town of Pigeon has not been found, and there is even a slight uncertainty as to who the man was, though it is generally believed that this distinction belongs to Edwin Cummings, who made his first home on the northwest quarter of Section 19, Township 22, of Range 7, a little north of the bridge which now spans the creek on the road leading into Fly Creek Valley. The date of settlement was probably 1860, and not later than 1861. Mr. Cummings was born in Massachusetts June 13, 1827, and died at his home in the town of
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pigeon. 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 Pigeon.
Nobody well known was born in Pigeon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Coral City, 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.
Pigeon is more historic than 65% 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.
36% of Pigeon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
