Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1961 on and old-book passages.
The Poygan post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Poygan is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. 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 Poygan’s 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: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Poygan’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Poygan yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Poygan is a town in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,261 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1859. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,301 to 1,261 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Poygan, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Town of Poygan was set off and organized as a separate town by action of the County Board, November 11, 1852, comprising Town 19, north. Range 14, east.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
iHE Town of Poygan, situated on the western border of the county, and south of Lake Poygan, which forms its entire northern border, comprises Fractional Township 19, Range 14. It was originally forest land, covered with a fine growth of oak, maple, hickory, basswood and other varieties. It formed a portion of what
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Poygan. 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 Poygan.
Poygan had its own post office from 1859 to 1903.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Poygan post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Poygan is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. 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.
11% of Poygan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.
