On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Schofield is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Schofield’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 Schofield’s 4.7 sits above most of its state (65% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 points).
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 →
What stands out about Schofield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 3,038 in 1960; 2,157 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Schofield’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Schofield, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Schofield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Schofield is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,157 at the 2020 census. The city was named for William Scholfield, who came to the area in the 1851 to open a sawmill. The city has since dropped the "L" from its name.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,169 in 2010, 2,157 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Schofield in 1913
Passages that mention Schofield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 673Read the page →
Read the text
lumbering districts, and after two years there located in Cattaraugus county, N. Y. In October, 1854, he moved from there to Stevens Point, Wis., and there engaged in logging and lumbering for three years and then came on to Schofield, and from there to Wausau in 1874, in which year he erected a comfortable residence at No. 634, Grand avenue, which was one of the first houses built in that section of Wausau. Lumbering in all its phases continued to be his business although he engaged to some extent also in farming in the town of Wes-
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.
Timeline
Schofield, 1874 to 1963
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Schofield is more historic than 80% 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.
What is on the National Register in Schofield?
One place: the Schofield School (listed 2015).
How old are the homes in Schofield?
25% of Schofield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.
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