Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 2000.
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 Potter Lake’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Potter Lake. 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 Potter Lake.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Potter Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Potter Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of East Troy, Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,117 at the 2020 census.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,107 in 2010, 1,117 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 1,099 and 1,117 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Potter Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Potter Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
