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B−History
History · River Falls

River Falls’ post office opened in 1855, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #197 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

7 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1946 on, and the census since 1860.

1855first post office
7on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From River Falls’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How River Falls began

When was River Falls founded?

1855

The River Falls post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 272 in 18602020 census: 16,182171 years

How historic is River Falls?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first River Falls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives River Falls’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, River Falls is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #197 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of River Falls’ overall grade.
Founding era1855, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.2% of homes (±2.2) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register7 listings, 4.2 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 46%

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 River Falls’ 4.2 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 7 listings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 River Falls’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register7 places on the National Register.Famous sons and daughtersAnna Dodge, Frankie Rayder and 11 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start River Falls’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewBird's eye view of River Falls, Pierce …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

7 historic places in River Falls

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
South Hall, River Falls State Normal School
South Hall, River Falls State Normal School, built 1898North Hall-River Falls State Normal School, built 1914Roscius S. and Lydia R. Freeman House, built 1908Glen Park Municipal Swimming Pool, built 1937Glen Park Suspension Footbridge, built 1925Jay and Bernice Grimm HouseRoscius and Ingebor Freeman House
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Late 19th and 20th Century American Movements1
South Hall, River Falls State Normal SchoolBuilt 1898
North Hall-River Falls State Normal SchoolBuilt 1914
Roscius S. and Lydia R. Freeman HouseLate Victorian · Built 1908
Glen Park Municipal Swimming PoolLate 19th and 20th Century American Movements · Built 1937
Glen Park Suspension FootbridgeBuilt 1925
All 7 listings
Jay and Bernice Grimm HouseBuilding · listed 2025Roscius and Ingebor Freeman HouseBuilding · listed 2025

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

Famous people

13 famous people were born in River Falls

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

See all →
Anna DodgeActress · b. 1867
F
Frankie RayderAmerican model · b. 1975
Warren P. KnowlesAmerican politician · b. 1908
K
Karyn Bye-DietzAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1971
M
Missy RayderAmerican model · b. 1978
J. P. FeyereisenAmerican baseball player · b. 1993
The story

How River Falls came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of River Falls.

Read it all →

The city's first settlers were Joel Foster and his indentured servant, Dick, in 1848. The village was started as Kinnickinnic in 1854 by brothers Nathaniel N. and Oliver S. Powell, who were from St. Lawrence County, New York. At the time, the town and village were also known as Greenwood, but this was changed, as another Greenwood, Wisconsin already existed. The present name comes from the Kinnickinnic River rapids.

On June 23, 1893, a lightning bolt hit the center circus pole at a Ringling Brothers circus performance in River Falls, injuring multiple audience members and performers and killing seven.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

River Falls, 1855 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe River Falls post office opens
  3. 1867Born hereAnna Dodge is born here
  4. 1880In the archiveBird's eye view of River Falls, Pierce County, Wisconsin, 1880
  5. 1898BuiltSouth Hall, River Falls State Normal School is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1908BuiltRoscius S. and Lydia R. Freeman House is built
  8. 1908Born hereWarren P. Knowles is born here
  9. 1914BuiltNorth Hall-River Falls State Normal School is built
  10. 1937BuiltGlen Park Municipal Swimming Pool is built
  11. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1971Born hereKaryn Bye-Dietz is born here
  13. 1975Born hereFrankie Rayder is born here
By decade

River Falls, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
Bird's eye view of River Falls, Pierce County, Wisconsin, 18801880Bird's eye view of River Falls, Pierce County, Wiscon…
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Class projects for agriculture studentsDate?Class projects for agriculture studentsBook
Today10 recent
River Falls, Wisconsin2024River Falls, WisconsinRiver Falls, Wisconsin-22024River Falls, Wisconsin-2River Falls, Wisconsin2011River Falls, WisconsinEastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)2011Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)River Falls, Wisconsin 142010River Falls, Wisconsin 14River Falls, Wisconsin 102010River Falls, Wisconsin 10Glen Park Municipal Swimming Pool 12010Glen Park Municipal Swimming Pool 12009-0620-RiverFalls-river20092009-0620-RiverFalls-river2009-0620-RiverFalls-CH20092009-0620-RiverFalls-CHWIMap-doton-River Falls2004WIMap-doton-River Falls
On the map

River Falls on the map in 1946

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of River Falls.

River Falls on the 1946 USGS map1946River Falls 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 River Falls.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bird's eye view of River Falls, Pierce County, Wisconsin, 1880
Retake this viewBird's eye view of River Falls, Pierce County, Wisconsin, 1880, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on River Falls’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

River Falls, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,00019001950200016,182

Grew from 272 people in 1860 to 16,182 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on River Falls’ Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

River Falls’s post office has been open since 1855.

Gone or out of use
Liberty Hill SchoolschoolRiver Falls Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside River Falls
GreenwoodSaint Bridget

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

TroyIts storyDKinnickinnic1 historic placeB+

Questions about River Falls’ history

What year was River Falls founded?

The River Falls post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does River Falls rank for history?

River Falls is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #197 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.

What is on the National Register in River Falls?

7 listings: 5 buildings, among them the South Hall, River Falls State Normal School (listed 1976, the first), and 2 structures.

How old are the homes in River Falls?

10% of River Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1990.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.