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–Not graded
History · Richwood

18% of Richwood’s homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: maps from 1933 on.

2on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Richwood’s past

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

Lost villages7 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Richwood, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Richwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

Seven other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sand Prairie
1850–1855
Port Andrew
1855–1889
Excelsior
1858–1958
Westport
1889–1900
Birds Creek
1890–1890
Byrds Creek
1890–1911
Tavera
1893–1940
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Byrds CreekExcelsiorPort AndrewSand PrairieTaveraWestportWild Rose
Gone or out of use
Hanson SchoolschoolHaskins ChurchchurchHaskins SchoolschoolPleasant Ridge ChurchchurchSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 4schoolUpper Byrds Creek SchoolschoolWoods Schoolschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Richwood
CoumbeGreenwoodHaskinsRichwood MethodistSand PrairieTaveraWest Fork

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

Help out

Start Richwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Richwood, in brief

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

Richwood is a town in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 527 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Byrds Creek, Excelsior, Port Andrew, Sand Prairie, Tavera, Westport, and Wild Rose are located in the town.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 533 in 2010, 527 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Richwood, 1850 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Sand Prairie post office opens
  3. 1855Post officeThe Sand Prairie post office closes
  4. 1855Post officeThe Port Andrew post office opens
  5. 1858Post officeThe Excelsior post office opens
  6. 1889Post officeThe Port Andrew post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1958Post officeThe Excelsior post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Richwood on the map, 1933 to 1983

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

Richwood on the 1933 USGS mapRichwood on the 1967 USGS mapRichwood on the 1983 USGS map1933Boscobel 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 Richwood.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Richwood

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
John Coumbe Farmstead
John Coumbe FarmsteadTippesaukee Farm Rural Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
John Coumbe FarmsteadGreek Revival
Tippesaukee Farm Rural Historic DistrictDistrict

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Richwood

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

See all →
Frank Lloyd WrightAmerican architect · b. 1867
Raymond Leo BurkeAmerican Catholic cardinal · b. 1948
Lynda BarryAmerican cartoonist · b. 1956
Vernon Wallace ThomsonAmerican politician · b. 1905
Otis B. ThayerActor, Director · b. 1862
George H. HodgesAmerican politician · b. 1866
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

WatterstownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAkanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEagleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townScottIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMariettaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Richwood’s history

What is on the National Register in Richwood?

Two places: the John Coumbe Farmstead (listed 1992) and the Tippesaukee Farm Rural Historic District (1996).

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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.