Most of Preston was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1870.
The Preston post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Roche-A-Cri (1856) and Fordham (1860), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 161 in 18702020 census: 1,377171 years
How historic is Preston?
C−
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Preston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Preston’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Preston is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Preston’s overall grade.
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 Preston’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Preston’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1930, then grew 5-fold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Preston’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Preston had its own post office from 1855 to 1858. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Preston
1855–1858
Roche-A-Cri
1856–1905
Fordham
1860–1866
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CottonvilleFordhamRoche a Cri
Gone or out of use
Cottonville SchoolschoolFordham Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Preston
CottonvilleIndian
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Preston, in brief
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 Adams County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,377 at the 2020 census, slightly down from 1,393 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Cottonville is located in the town. The ghost towns of Fordham and Roche a Cri were also located in the town.
Its first post office opened in 1855. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,393 in 2010, 1,377 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Preston, 1855 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Preston post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Preston rank for history?
Preston is more historic than 24% 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.
How old are the homes in Preston?
7% of Preston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
