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History · Ridgeway

Ridgeway’s post office opened in 1839, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

1839first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ridgeway began

When was Ridgeway founded?

1839

The Ridgeway post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 624187 years
Founding year: the first Ridgeway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ridgeway’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ridgeway are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1839: 187 years of Ridgeway.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ridgeway’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ridgeway’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
Timeline

Ridgeway, 1839 to 1938

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Ridgeway post office opens
  3. 1860Born hereEvan Lewis is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1916Born hereJane Farwell is born here
  6. 1938Born hereTom Davis is born here
The story so far

Ridgeway, in brief

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

Ridgeway is a village in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 624 at the 2020 census. The village is adjacent to the Town of Ridgeway. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1839. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 653 to 624 (-4%).

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

By decade

Ridgeway, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Field with Round Bales2013Field with Round BalesBarn and Silo South of2013Barn and Silo South ofRidgeway Tower2008Ridgeway TowerRidgewaywi2007Ridgewaywi
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Ridgeway

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
T
Tom DavisAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1938
Evan LewisAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1860
J
Jane FarwellFolk dance teacher · b. 1916

Questions about Ridgeway’s history

What year was Ridgeway founded?

The Ridgeway post office opened in 1839, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.