Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #131 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Lewis Farmhouse, the John Nicholas and Hermina Thelen House and the Louis C. and Augusta Kriesel Farmstead. Most of St. Joseph was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Joseph is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #131 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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. Joseph’s 28.0 sits above most of its state (85% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Joseph’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
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 a town in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,178 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Burkhardt, and Houlton are located in the town.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,842 to 4,178 (+9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Joseph. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 3,436 and 4,178 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Joseph’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
St. Joseph is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #131 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.
Three places: the Lewis Farmhouse (listed 1982), the John Nicholas and Hermina Thelen House (2009) and the Louis C. and Augusta Kriesel Farmstead (2009).
8% of St. Joseph’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1990.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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2005