Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #32 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 40 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1884 on and the census since 1870.
Sheboygan Falls dates its founding to 1835 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sheboygan Falls is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #32 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings 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 Sheboygan Falls’ 49.1 sits above most of its state (88% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 42 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Sheboygan Falls’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.
Born hereCharles H. Weisse is born here
Born hereJoan Milke Flores is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Sheboygan Falls.
Sheboygan Falls took its name from the nearby falls on the Sheboygan River. The city was called Rochester for a brief time; the name was changed because a community in Racine County already held the same name.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Sheboygan Falls, cut from the printed page as they were published.
COUNTY — OTHER INDUSTRIES — CHURCHES — FRATERNAL ORDERS, ETC. — HISTORIC OLD SCHOOL BUILDINa TOWN AND CORPORATION OF SHEBOYGAN FALLS The early history of the town of Sheboygan Falls begins with the village of that name, for the reason that the first settlement here was made at the locality now the site of the village. The land in this region had been surveyed and brought into market in 1834 and 1835, and Colonel Silas Stedman, with others, having purchased the land where the village of Sheboy-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
HISTORIC OLD SCHOOL BUILDING An old unpainted wooden building, bearing evidence of having withstood the attacks of the storms of many years, stands in the east part of the village of Sheboygan Falls. This landmark of historic interest, erected about 1846, of the very best of the original pine timber grown in the vicinity, and probably sawed at the old mill then a few rods distant, is supposed to be the first school building erected in Sheboygan county. In early days Sheboygan Falls was the metropolis of the county, at one time leading Sheboygan in pop-
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sheboygan Falls. 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 Sheboygan Falls.
Fire 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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Grew from 1,174 people in 1870 to 8,210 in 2020, 6 times over.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sheboygan Falls’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Sheboygan Falls’s post office has been open since 1837.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1835, according to Wikidata. Sheboygan Falls’ post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1870 counted 1,174 people here.
Sheboygan Falls is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #32 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.
Three places: the Downtown Historic District (listed 1984), the Cole Historic District (1988) and the Sheboygan Falls School (2021).
25% of Sheboygan Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (7), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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), 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.
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