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–Not graded
History · Pittsville

Pittsville’s post office opened in 1875, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Pittsville began

When was Pittsville founded?

1875

The Pittsville post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 163 in 18802020 census: 813151 years
Founding year: the first Pittsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Pittsville’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 Pittsville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1930, drew every building in Pittsville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pittsville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pittsville’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
Every building

Pittsville, building by building, 1894–1930

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.

Pittsville fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Pittsville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pittsville.

Read it all →

The first settler in the Pittsville area was James Quick Severn, arriving in 1849, but then leaving. Oliver Wright Pitts and his family arrived in late 1856. They lived in a barn-like structure on the riverbank on what is now the south side of town, which served as a "stopping place" (back-country inn) for loggers moving up and down the Yellow River. Oliver started a sawmill and the place was first called "Pitt's Mill." By 1858, when Oliver's father and family arrived, three other men had joined him there. Oliver's son Thomas taught the first school in 1859. The Pitts also built a shingle mill, and a hotel in the 1870s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Pittsville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Pittsville, Wisconsin2024Pittsville, WisconsinPittsville High School2024Pittsville High SchoolPittsville Career and Technical Education Center2024Pittsville Career and Technical Education CenterPittsville Career and Technical Education Center-22024Pittsville Career and Technical Education Center-2PittsvilleWisconsinWelcomeSignWIS73WIS132009PittsvilleWisconsinWelcomeSignWIS73WIS13WIMap-doton-Pittsville2005WIMap-doton-Pittsville
On the map

Pittsville on the map, 1967 to 1985

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

Pittsville on the 1967 USGS mapPittsville on the 1985 USGS map1967Pittsville 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 Pittsville.

People over time

Pittsville, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 874

Between 163 and 874 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pittsville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Pittsville

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

See all →
A
Andrew RockAmerican sprinter · b. 1982
Jordan ZimmermannAmerican baseball pitcher · b. 1986
B
Bob GalvinAmerican businessman · b. 1922
Ed LewisAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1890
L
Lucy ReedAmerican jazz singer · b. 1921
Mark TauscherAmerican sportsperson and gridiron football pla… · b. 1977
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

WoodIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Pittsville’s history

What year was Pittsville founded?

The Pittsville post office opened in 1875, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.