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History · Port Wing

Port Wing’s post office opened in 1893, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1961 on.

1893first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Port Wing began

When was Port Wing founded?

1893

The Port Wing post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 389133 years
Founding year: the first Port Wing post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Port Wing’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Wing’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

Port Wing, in brief

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

Port Wing (also Portwing) is an unincorporated census-designated place in the town of Port Wing, Bayfield County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, Port Wing had a population of 156. The community is situated along Wisconsin Highway 13 and Bayfield County Highway A and is 30 miles (48 km) west of Bayfield. The Flag River enters Lake Superior at Port Wing's harbor.

Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 368 to 389 (+6%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Port Wing on the map, 1961 to 1984

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

Port Wing on the 1961 USGS mapPort Wing on the 1984 USGS map1961Port Wing 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 Port Wing.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

OrientaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClover1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Port Wing’s history

What year was Port Wing founded?

The Port Wing post office opened in 1893, 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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.