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History · St. Joseph

St. Joseph’s post office opened in 1875, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1927 on.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How St. Joseph began

When was St. Joseph founded?

1875

The St. Joseph post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 487151 years
Founding year: the first St. Joseph post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start St. Joseph’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

St. Joseph, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of St. Joseph yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

St. Joseph is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Greenfield, La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the La Crosse Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community is located at the junction of State Highway 33 and county trunk highway M. As of the 2010 census, its population was 503.

Its first post office opened in 1875.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

St. Joseph on the map, 1927 to 1963

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

St. Joseph on the 1927 USGS mapSt. Joseph on the 1930 USGS mapSt. Joseph on the 1963 USGS map1927La Crosse 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 St. Joseph.

Famous people

Famous people close to St. Joseph

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

See all →
Joseph LoseyAmerican filmmaker and theatre director · b. 1909
Charles DierkopAmerican actor · b. 1936
Ford SterlingAmerican comedian · b. 1882
Hamlin GarlandAmerican novelist, poet, essayist, short story … · b. 1860
John TolandAmerican writer · b. 1912
William HauberActor · b. 1891

Questions about St. Joseph’s history

What year was St. Joseph founded?

The St. Joseph post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.