Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #334 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Most of Stephenson was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1973 on.
Stephenson dates its founding to 1897 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1902.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stephenson is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #334 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Stephenson’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.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
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 Stephenson’s history is told.
Two 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Stephenson.
The town of Stephenson was organized in 1897 with the name of Crivitz and changed to its current name in 1905. The town is named for Isaac Stephenson, a Republican member of Congress who represented Wisconsin's 9th Congressional District from 1883-1889 and a US Senator from Wisconsin from 1907-1915.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 SurveyWeddings 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 Stephenson. 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 Stephenson.
Nobody well known was born in Stephenson itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1897, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Stephenson’s post office opened in 1902.
Stephenson is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #334 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.
4% of Stephenson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
