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CHistory
History · Stiles

Stiles’ post office opened in 1855

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Stiles was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1956 on.

1855first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Stiles began

When was Stiles founded?

1855

The Stiles post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,518171 years

How historic is Stiles?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Stiles post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Stiles’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stiles is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stiles’ overall grade.
Founding era1855, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.5% of homes (±3.9) · 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 26%
NewerOlder

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 Stiles’ 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points). 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 Stiles’ 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 Stiles are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stiles’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stiles’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
The story so far

Stiles, in brief

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

Stiles is a town in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,518 at the 2020 census. The town of Stiles was surveyed in 1839 and organized in 1852. The town was originally planned to be named Eldred. The town established a post office in 1855, but it was discontinued in early 1882. Later that year in late 1882, the town established a new post office that remained in operation until 1976.

Its first post office opened in 1855. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,489 in 2010, 1,518 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Stiles, 1855 to 1976

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Stiles post office opens
  3. 1885Born hereJohn J. O'Hara is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1976Post officeThe Stiles post office closes
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Stiles on the map, 1956 to 1974

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

Stiles on the 1956 USGS mapStiles on the 1974 USGS map1956Oconto Falls 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 Stiles.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Stiles had its own post office from 1855 to 1976.

Stiles
1855–1976
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Stiles Junction
Gone or out of use
Busy SchoolschoolCain's FieldairportLarson Studio AirportairportMatravers Landing FieldairportMeadow Brook SchoolschoolStiles Junction Schoolschool

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Oconto FallsIts storyC+AbramsIts storyCOcontoIts storyB−LenaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOconto FallsIts storyC+

Questions about Stiles’ history

What year was Stiles founded?

The Stiles post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Stiles rank for history?

Stiles is more historic than 26% 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.

How old are the homes in Stiles?

8% of Stiles’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1985.

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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.