Most of St. Germain was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Peacock Inn. Below: maps from 1966 on.
Founding year: the first St. Germain post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives St. Germain’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Germain is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Germain’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 St. Germain’s 4.8 sits above most of its state (66% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 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 St. Germain’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of St. Germain yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
St. Germain is a town in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,083 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of St. Germain is located in the town.
Its first post office opened in 1952. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,085 in 2010, 2,083 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
St. Germain, 1930 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The St. Germain post office opened in 1952, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does St. Germain rank for history?
St. Germain is more historic than 18% 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 St. Germain?
One place: the Peacock Inn (listed 2017).
How old are the homes in St. Germain?
3% of St. Germain’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
