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Gratiot HouseGratiot House · Photo: Tgkrause · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Shullsburg

22% of Shullsburg’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Gratiot House. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1880.

1on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Shullsburg’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 Shullsburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1984. Watch Shullsburg change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shullsburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shullsburg’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
On the map

Shullsburg on the map, 1902 to 1984

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

Shullsburg on the 1902 USGS mapShullsburg on the 1952 USGS mapShullsburg on the 1984 USGS map1902Mineral Point sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Shullsburg.

The story

How Shullsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Shullsburg.

Read it all →

Shullsburg was founded during the 1820s in parts by Jesse Shull and Henry Gratiot and due to their ventures into lead mining. Following the Black Hawk War conflict Gratiot's Grove (Wisconsin) and other small settlements consolidated into Shullsburg. Shullsburg is where the term "Badgers" was first coined to describe the local lead miners, per the Milwaukee Journal. The oldest known documented reference to the "Badgers" is a location called "Badger Hill" on an 1838 Map titled "A Birdseye View of Shullsburg" by I.W. Glines which is in the Archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society. The University of Wisconsin adopted the badger as their official mascot in 1889.

ChaptersSt. Matthew's Catholic Church and ParishShullsburg School

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Shullsburg, 1835 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835BuiltGratiot House is built
  3. 1840Born hereWilliam Warner is born here
  4. 1861Born hereHoward Kyle is born here
  5. 1863Born hereGeorge Safford Parker is born here
  6. 1884Post officeThe Dunbarton post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1917Born hereJohnny Gerlach is born here
  10. 1953Post officeThe Dunbarton post office closes
By decade

Shullsburg, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Townsend Center2015Townsend CenterGratiot from Water2014Gratiot from WaterSt. Matthews2012St. MatthewsShullsburg School2012Shullsburg SchoolMarcasite2010MarcasiteWIMap-doton-Shullsburg2004WIMap-doton-Shullsburg
On the National Register

1 historic place in Shullsburg

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Gratiot House
Gratiot House, built 1835
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Georgian1
Gratiot HouseVernacular · Built 1835

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

People over time

Shullsburg, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,484

Between 1,041 and 1,484 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shullsburg’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Shullsburg

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
G
George Safford ParkerAmerican businessman · b. 1863
William WarnerAmerican politician, Missouri · b. 1840
Howard KyleActor · b. 1861
J
Johnny GerlachMajor League Baseball shortstop · b. 1917
P
Patrick Roger VailAmerican politician – Minnesota -House 1897-98 … · b. 1859
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Dunbarton
Gone or out of use
Shullsburg Airportairport
1cemetery inside Shullsburg
Saint Matthews New Catholic

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.

SeymourIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Diggings1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWhite Oak SpringsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGratiotIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDarlingtonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Shullsburg’s history

What is on the National Register in Shullsburg?

One place: the Gratiot House (listed 1980).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.