Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #333 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Most of Pleasant Springs was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1890 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pleasant Springs is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #333 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 Pleasant Springs’ 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 Pleasant Springs’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pleasant Springs. 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 Pleasant Springs.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pleasant Springs yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,154 to 3,078 (-2%).
Passages that mention Pleasant Springs, cut from the printed page as they were published.
ELIilllfG BOTTOLFSOK, farmer. Sec. 16; P. 0. Stoughton; was born in Norway, May 12, 1838 ; he emigrated to Wisconsin, and located in the town of Pleasant Springs, Dane Co., in 1857, and, afler working by the month at farm labor till 1859, he went to North Manitou Island, Michigan, and there followed chopping for three years ; after which he returned to the town of Pleasant Springs and
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.
2024Pleasant Springs Town Hall
2024Pleasant Springs Town Hall 2
2014Western Koshkonong Lutheran Church-Els-Wels
2014Pleasant Springs Sunset
2014Interstate 90-39
2014Dairy Farm with Four Silos - panoramio (4)
2013Communication Towers
2013Cell Tower - panoramio (9)
2013ATC Power Line - panoramio (76)
2013ATC Power Line - panoramio (65)
2013ATC Power Line - panoramio (64)
2013ATC Power Line - panoramio (62)Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Pleasant Springs is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #333 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.
6% of Pleasant Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (12), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
