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C−History
History · Star Prairie

Half of Star Prairie’s homes were built after 1996

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #347 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Star Prairie was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1910.

0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

About Star Prairie’s history

How historic is Star Prairie?

C−

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Star Prairie’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Star Prairie is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #347 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Star Prairie’s overall grade.
Founding eraThere’s no founding date for Star Prairie we can vouch for, so age doesn’t count here–Homes built before 19403.3% of homes (±2.4) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 15%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 4%

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 Star Prairie’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size.

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 →

What stands out about Star Prairie’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 Star Prairie are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Star Prairie, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Star Prairie’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Star Prairie’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Huntingdon, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
HuntingtonJohannesburgWall Street Village
Gone or out of use
River View SchoolschoolRiverdale SchoolschoolSquaw Lake Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Star Prairie
Oakland

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Star Prairie, in brief

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

Star Prairie is a village in St. Croix County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 678 at the 2020 census. The village is located along the Apple River on the boundary between the Town of Star Prairie and the Town of Stanton.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,504 to 3,733 (+7%).

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

Timeline

Star Prairie, 1858 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Huntingdon post office opens
  3. 1868Post officeThe Huntingdon post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Star Prairie, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Water tower2025Water towerPost Office2025Post OfficeCommunity Center2025Community CenterBusinesses on Main Street2025Businesses on Main StreetStar Prairie Town Hall 022024Star Prairie Town Hall 02Star Prairie Town Hall 012024Star Prairie Town Hall 01
On the map

Star Prairie on the map, 1948 to 1974

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

Star Prairie on the 1948 USGS mapStar Prairie on the 1974 USGS map1948New Richmond 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 Star Prairie.

People over time

Star Prairie, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020678

Grew from 253 people in 1910 to 678 in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

New Richmond15 historic placesBSomersetIts storyC−AldenIts storyCRichmondIts storyC−FarmingtonIts storyB−

Questions about Star Prairie’s history

How does Star Prairie rank for history?

Star Prairie is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #347 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.

How old are the homes in Star Prairie?

3% of Star Prairie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1996.

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 (6), 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.