Founding year: the first Spring Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Spring Valley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spring Valley is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spring Valley’s overall grade.
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 Spring Valley’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Spring Valley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Spring Valley area was first settled by logging crews in 1857. They had followed the Eau Galle River upstream from the sawmill settlement in Eau Galle, WI. The first family settled in 1861. The first school was built in 1867. The post office was established in 1870. A watermill was constructed in 1874. Iron ore had been discovered in the area in 1876, however mining would not take place until 1891/92. It was at that time the Eagle Iron (later Spring Valley Iron and Ore Company) started the “pig iron” industry. The smelting and ore industry would bring a large number of people to the village. This included miners, smelters, businessmen, and freemasons. Many of whom brought families. In 1895 Spring Valley officially became incorporated. Since then, Spring Valley has continued to grow while honoring and celebrating the historical past as residents get together to celebrate “Dam Days” (…
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spring Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1946Knapp 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 Spring Valley.
Every building
Spring Valley, building by building, 1900–1912
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.
The Spring Valley post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Spring Valley rank for history?
Spring Valley is more historic than 44% 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.
How old are the homes in Spring Valley?
24% of Spring Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), 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 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.
1912
Date?
