Potosi is located where Wisconsin's lead ore belt intersects with the Mississippi. Three villages – Head of the Hollow, Van Buren, and Lafayette – formed in the 1830s. In 1839, James P. Cox platted a city called Osceola on the river bank southeast of Lafayette, but no lots were sold. The three villages were merged on February 19, 1841, to form Potosi. Possible origins for the town's name include the Spanish word for lead, a corruption of the Native American name of a settler's wife, and Potosi, Missouri, where some early miners originated (itself named for the fabled silver mines of Potosí, Bolivia).
Passages that mention Potosi, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 520Read the page →
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By act of the legislature approved February 19, 1841, the village of Potosi was incorporated (this and Platteville, incorporated the same day, being the first incorporated villages in the county) embrac-. ing the settlement called “the Head of the Hollow,” Van Buren, and Lafayette, the first election to be held at the house of C. Kaltenbach.
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History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 450Read the page →
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S., then one year old, grew up there and became one of the legislators of the State, dying at Seattle, Washington, in 1898. The father died at his old home in 1880, aged 83. In 1840 Russell Cardy came and settled in the southern part of the settlement in the town of Potosi, and lived there till his death in 1892, aged 75 years. Another one of the earliest residents in the Potosi part of Hurricane was Andrew Hogle. who carried the mail on horseback over the route from Galena to Prairie du Chien. He contributed several daughters to Grant
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[History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin1881 · page 544Read the page →
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had another severe attack of the railroad fever. A meeting was held January 16, largely attended, which voted unanimously in favor of a 5-per-cent tax on the assessed valuation, provided a road was brought to Lancaster from any point. Some favored connection with Dubuque, others with Platteville and Galena. Enthusiastic meetings were held at Potosi and Ellenboro, also February 11 at Dubuque, attended by delegates from Lancaster and Potosj, at which resolutions were adopted favoring railroad connection by any feasible route with Grant County. A ponton bridge was to be built at Dubuque, and the road run from Lancaster to Potosi and so to Dunleith. A meeting was held early in the spring at Lancaster. H. A. Moore was authorized to
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[History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin1881 · page 770Read the page →
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Supplementary, and it might be added tributary to Potosi Village, are points of settlement contiguous thereto, though their race with prosperity was decided years ago. Among these are Dutch Hollow, a mile to the east of Potosi, British Hollow and Rockville to the northeast, distant a mile and a half and three miles respectively.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Potosi, 1838 to 1922
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Potosi, census by census
Between 434 and 736 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Potosi’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
4 famous people were born in Potosi
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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