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History · Presque Isle

Presque Isle’s post office opened in 1956

Most of Presque Isle was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1955 on.

1956first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Presque Isle began

When was Presque Isle founded?

1956

The Presque Isle post office opened in 1956, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Fosterville (1906) and Winegar (1913), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 80570 years
Founding year: the first Presque Isle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Presque Isle’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Presque Isle, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Presque Isle’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Presque Isle’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewApostle Islands, L[ake] S[uperior], Tri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Presque Isle’s post office has been open since 1956. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fosterville
1906–1913
Winegar
1913–1956
Presque Isle
1956–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Katinka Village
Gone or out of use
Presque Isle Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Presque Isle
Presque Isle

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Presque Isle, in brief

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

The Town of Presque Isle is located in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was reported by the 2020 Census to be 805. The unincorporated communities of Presque Isle and Katinka Village are located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1956. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 618 to 805 (+30%).

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

Timeline

Presque Isle, 1898 to 1956

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898In the archiveApostle Islands, L[ake] S[uperior], Trip Hammer
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Fosterville post office opens
  5. 1913Post officeThe Fosterville post office closes
  6. 1913Post officeThe Winegar post office opens
  7. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1956Post officeThe Winegar post office closes
  9. 1956Post officeThe Presque Isle post office opens
By decade

Presque Isle, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Apostle Islands, L[ake] S[uperior], Trip Hammer1898Apostle Islands, L[ake] S[uperior], Trip Hammer
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Presque Isle on the map, 1955 to 1981

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

Presque Isle on the 1955 USGS mapPresque Isle on the 1981 USGS map1955Boulder Junction 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 Presque Isle.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Apostle Islands, L[ake] S[uperior], Trip Hammer
Retake this viewApostle Islands, L[ake] S[uperior], Trip Hammer, 1898

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Presque Isle’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Presque Isle

Nobody well known was born in Presque Isle itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Renee EllmersFormer U.S. Representative from North Carolina · b. 1964
Gerald J. BoileauAmerican politician · b. 1900
Raymond Joseph CannonPolitician, lawyer, baseball pitcher · b. 1894
William C. Gribble, Jr.United States general · b. 1917
B
Bobby JurasinPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1964
G
George NelmarkAmerican basketball player · b. 1917
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

WinchesterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBoulder JunctionIts storyC−Land O'LakesIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Presque Isle’s history

What year was Presque Isle founded?

The Presque Isle post office opened in 1956, 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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.