Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 62 buildings. Below: old-book passages.
The Sharon post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sharon is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Sharon’s 389 sits above most of its state (99% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 62 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Its first post office opened in 1844. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,605 in 2010, 1,586 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Sharon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
When the county of Walworth was iirst divided into towns, by act of the Territorial Legislatiu'e, approved .January 2, 1S38, the ten-itory now constituting the town of Sharon was a portion of the town of Delavan; it so remained imtil the early part of 18.39, when Towns No. 1, in Ranges 15 and 17 east, were set off from Delavan, aud formed a separate town by the name of W^alworth. By an act of the Territorial Legislature. aj>proved March 21, 1843, Town 1 north, in Range 15 east, was set off from Walworth, and formed into a separate town and called Sharon. The tii'st town meeting in accordance with this act was held at the house of Josiah Topping, on the 4th day of the succeeding month.
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.
The town of Sharon, as before stated, was set off and organized as a town by special act of the Ten-itorial Legislatiu-e, approved March 21, 1843. The first town meeting and election of officers in accordance with this act was held at the house of Josiah Tojiping, on Section 1, April 4, 1843. Amos Wheeler was a^ipointed as Moderator, and Aaron Carr as Clerk of this meeting. Among others, the following resohitions were passed: " That but one Assessor and one Constable be elected: that one-half of 1 per cent upon the assessment roll be raised as a school fund; that the compensation of the Supervisors be $1 per day for their sei-vices, and that of the remainder of the officers be the same as is allowed in the State of New York."
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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Sharon post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Sharon is more historic than 97% 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.
One place: the Grace and Pearl Historic District (listed 1993).
39% of Sharon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1963.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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