Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1880.
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 Sharon’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sharon. 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 Sharon.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sharon yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Sharon is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,586 at the 2020 census. The village is situated within the Town of Sharon.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 907 to 861 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Sharon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Sharon is located on Section 33 of the town of Sharon, on the Wisconsin Division of the Chicago & North-Western Railroad, which enters the town on Section 34, and, running in a northwesterly direction, passes out on Section 30. The first settlers of the village were William Van Ostrand and a Mr. Southai'd, who located in 1842.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A schoolhouse was built near the site of the present one in the village of Sharon in about 1848. This was replaced by the present schoolhouse a few years afterwai'd, which has from time to time been remodeled and added to. It is situated in the northern part of the village, and is a two-story frame building, representing a valuation of aliout ?3,000.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Walworth (with Sharon) was set off in 1839, and the town of Darien early in the next year, leaving the name Delavan to town 2 north, range 16 east. One more dismemberment, February 2, 1846, gave section 1 to the new town of Elkhorn. Of seven measurements recorded by the state topographers the highest and lowest points were respectively nine hundred and sixty-eight ami nine hundred and five feet above sea-level.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
William C. Kinyon, of this sketch, was reared and educated in Boone county. Illinois, and early in life he took up farming for a livelihood and continued the same successfully. He owns a most excellent farm in section 31, Sharon township, which he placed under good improvements and kept well tilled. In 1900 he moved to the village of Sharon. His farm of two hundred acres lies in the southwest corner of Sharon township. He merely looks after it in a general way, keeping it rented.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWalter Samuel Goodland is born here
Born hereFrank P. Woods is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereCharles W. Woodford is born here
Born hereTravis Frederick is born hereFire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Between 657 and 1,605 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sharon’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
2024
2014
