Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #257 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1870.
The Poynette post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Poynette is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #257 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 Poynette’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 Poynette’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Poynette. 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 Poynette.
From Wikipedia’s history of Poynette.
Poynette was named after Pierre Paquette, an early fur trader and settler of south central Wisconsin. When an application was made for a post office in the settlement, Paquette's name was misread as Poynette, and the post office was mistakenly named "Poynette". The village was then named after the post office. The community was incorporated in 1892.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Poynette, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Town of Arlington— Village of Arlington— Town of Caledonia— Town of Columbu.'*— Town of Courtland— Village of Cambri.\— Village of Randolph— Town of Deeorra —Village of Dekorra— Village of Poynette— Town of Fort Winnebago. town of ARLINGTON. The first permanent settlement in Arlington was made by Clark M. Young, on Section 1, in the spring of 1838. For six years, he was "monarch of all he surveyed " in this town, there being no other settler to dispute his claim. J. Pratt came in 1844; and during that year and the six following, came a large number, including N. Van Winter, Nathan Hazen, William A.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
plat, however, was subsequently vacated. About the year 1850, application was made by petition to the Post Office Department, through Doty, to have a post office established at this point, and the petitioners desired the name given the office to be Pauquette, the same as that given by him to the village he had laid out. Through a clerical error, it was called Poynette. No effort was ever made to change the name, and when the village was again laid out it was called Poynette, after the name of the post office.
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.
Grew from 300 people in 1870 to 2,590 in 2020, 8 times over.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Poynette’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Poynette post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Poynette is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #257 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.
17% of Poynette’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (6), 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 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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