Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1960 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richland is more historic than 33% 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 Richland’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: our sources. 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 Richland’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Richland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Richland is a town in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,175 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,379 to 1,175 (-15%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Richland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
sliall; on tlio south by the town of Aken; on the west by the town of Clayton in Crawford county, and town of Kickapoo in Vernon county; on tiie south Ijy tlje town of Forest, in Richland county, of which it was an integral part until April, 185G, when it was separated from the town of Forest, and organized into a separate town, by the election of officers on April 1,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
John Waddell was one of the first settlers in the northern part of Richland county, coming in 1850 to Richmond City, where he bought a lot and erecteil a small house and spent the first winter. In the spring of 1852 he moved to the site of his |)resent farm on section 5, town of Richland, at that time an unbroken wilderness, built a log shanty, which he covered with baric,
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Richland. 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 Richland.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Richland is more historic than 33% 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.
12% of Richland’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 1979.
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 (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2004