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BHistory
History · Spooner

Spooner’s post office opened in 1883, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns · #151 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Its Register listings are the George V. Siegner House and the Mrs. Richard Polson House. Its Register listings are the George V. Siegner House and the Mrs. Richard Polson House. Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
2on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Spooner began

When was Spooner founded?

1883

The Spooner post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,453 in 19102020 census: 2,477143 years

How historic is Spooner?

B

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Spooner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Spooner’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spooner is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #151 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spooner’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.0% of homes (±5.3) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register2 listings, 8.8 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 63%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 58%

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 Spooner’s 8.8 sits above most of its state (75% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Spooner’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 Spooner are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spooner’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Spooner’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 Spooner came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spooner.

Read it all →

Originally a town in 1889, and officially incorporated as a city in 1909, Spooner's history is closely interlaced with that of railroad history. In 1879, the North Wisconsin Railway was constructed north of the present-day city of Spooner. Following that, the operations of that railroad were moved south where it joined the Chicago and North Western at what was then called Chicago Junction.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Spooner, 1883 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Spooner post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904BuiltGeorge V. Siegner House is built
  5. 1917BuiltMrs. Richard Polson House is built
  6. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Spooner, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Railroad Memories Museum2023Railroad Memories MuseumUntitled photo2016Untitled photoWisconsin wilderness2014Wisconsin wildernessGreetings from Spooner, Wisconsin, In the Heart of Indian Head Country - Large Letter Postcard2013Greetings from Spooner, Wisconsin, In the Heart of In…DocumentWashburn county WI Spooner IMG 16552012Washburn county WI Spooner IMG 1655Washburn county WI Spooner IMG 16512012Washburn county WI Spooner IMG 1651Washburn county WI Spooner IMG 16502012Washburn county WI Spooner IMG 1650
On the map

Spooner on the map, 1965 to 1982

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

Spooner on the 1965 USGS mapSpooner on the 1982 USGS map1965Spooner 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 Spooner.

Every building

Spooner, building by building, 1909–1917

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.

Spooner fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 5
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Spooner

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
George V. Siegner House
George V. Siegner House, built 1904Mrs. Richard Polson House, built 1917
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Bungalow1
George V. Siegner HouseBuilt 1904
Mrs. Richard Polson HouseBungalow · Built 1917

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

People over time

Spooner, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,682

Between 1,453 and 2,682 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Spooner’s post office has been open since 1883.

Gone or out of use
Hammill Grade SchoolschoolSpooner Christian and Missionary Alliance ChurchchurchWesleyan Methodist Churchchurch
1cemetery inside Spooner
Spooner

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.

EvergreenIts storyC−Beaver BrookIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBashawIts storyC

Questions about Spooner’s history

What year was Spooner founded?

The Spooner post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Spooner rank for history?

Spooner is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #151 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.

What is on the National Register in Spooner?

Two places: the George V. Siegner House (listed 1982) and the Mrs. Richard Polson House (1984).

How old are the homes in Spooner?

19% of Spooner’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 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 →
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.