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AHistory
History · Sherman

28% of Sherman’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, the Gooseville Mill/Grist Mill and the Charles T. and Gertrude Rietz House. Below: maps from 1954 on.

3on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

About Sherman’s history

How historic is Sherman?

A

More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Sherman’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sherman is more historic than 91% 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 Sherman’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194027.9% of homes (±8.1) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 20.4 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 91%
NewerOlder

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 Sherman’s 20.4 sits above most of its state (83% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±8.1 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 Sherman’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Sherman are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sherman’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Sherman came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sherman.

Read it all →

The town was created in 1850 as the town of Abbott. Due to the Abbot family, whom the town was named for, holding Confederate sympathies during the Civil War, the family was forced from the town, and its name was changed to Sherman on March 25, 1865, in honor of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. The town does maintain one link to its original namesake in Abbott Road.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sherman, 1872 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Silver Creek post office opens
  3. 1877BuiltSt. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church is built
  4. 1879BuiltGooseville Mill/Grist Mill is built
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903BuiltCharles T. and Gertrude Rietz House is built
  7. 1903Post officeThe Silver Creek post office closes
  8. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Sherman, decade by decade

Today14 recent
Pink ^ Purple Sunset Over Madison2016Pink ^ Purple Sunset Over MadisonMural on a Madison Storage Building2015Mural on a Madison Storage BuildingMid September Sunset2015Mid September SunsetMid February Sunset2015Mid February SunsetMendota Mental Health Institute Water Tower ^ Stack - panoramio (4)2015Mendota Mental Health Institute Water Tower ^ Stack -…McDonald's® Northport Drive2015McDonald's® Northport DriveMcDonald's® Northport Drive - panoramio (1)2015McDonald's® Northport Drive - panoramio (1)Early March Sunset - panoramio (2)2015Early March Sunset - panoramio (2)Purple House2014Purple HouseNorthside Neighbourhoods Welcome Sign2014Northside Neighbourhoods Welcome SignNorth Sherman Avenue2014North Sherman AvenueJewelers Workshop2014Jewelers WorkshopRhythm And Booms 20082008Rhythm And Booms 2008WIMap-doton-Sherman d2005WIMap-doton-Sherman d
On the map

Sherman on the map, 1954 to 1974

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sherman. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sherman on the 1954 USGS mapSherman on the 1974 USGS map1954Sheboygan 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 Sherman.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Sherman

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, built 1877Gooseville Mill/Grist Mill, built 1879Charles T. and Gertrude Rietz House, built 1903
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic ChurchGothic Revival · Built 1877
Gooseville Mill/Grist MillBuilt 1879
Charles T. and Gertrude Rietz HouseBuilt 1903

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Sherman

Nobody well known was born in Sherman itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Tony EversGovernor of Wisconsin since 2019 · b. 1951
Glenway WescottAmerican poet, novelist and essayist · b. 1901
HildegardeAmerican singer · b. 1906
Ben PaulsenAmerican baseball player · b. 1987
V
Vera Eugenia AndrusAmerican artist · b. 1895
Josh GasserAmerican basketball player · b. 1992
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Silver Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
GoosevilleSilver Creek
Gone or out of use
Lafollette SchoolschoolLiberty SchoolschoolRiverside StripairportSaint Paul Churchchurch
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sherman
EmmanuelPilgrims RestSaint JohnsSaint MarysSaint Patrick CatholicSaint Pauls LutheranUnion

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.

Random LakeIts storyB−AdellIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townScottIts storyA−Fredonia2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHollandIts storyB+LyndonIts storyBBataviaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sherman’s history

How does Sherman rank for history?

Sherman is more historic than 91% 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 Sherman?

Three places: the St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church (listed 1983), the Gooseville Mill/Grist Mill (1984) and the Charles T. and Gertrude Rietz House (2018).

How old are the homes in Sherman?

28% of Sherman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1971.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (14), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.