Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1985 on and old-book passages.
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 Preston’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Preston yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Preston is a town in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 942 at the 2020 census.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 953 in 2010, 942 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Preston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Another Irish settler in the town of Preston was Patrick Bennett, who settled on what is now known as the Densmore farm about 1856 or 1857, who continued to reside there until 1864.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first meeting of the board in the new courthouse was held July 23, 1856. B. F. Heuston of Gale was still a member of the board. WilUam Adams succeeded William A. Cram of Trempealeau. In the meantime the town of Preston had been created, November 21, 1855, consisting of all of the county north of the line between Townships 19 and 20, except that part in what is now Ettrick, west of the range line between Ranges 9 and 10 ; and the first town meeting had been held at the home of Ed. Reynolds, April 1, 1856. The first representative of the town on the county board was
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Preston.
1985Winona sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Preston.
Nobody well known was born in Preston itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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, 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.