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DHistory
History · Sturtevant

Sturtevant’s post office opened in 1923

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #348 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Most of Sturtevant was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1910.

1923first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
From Sturtevant’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sturtevant began

When was Sturtevant founded?

1923

The Sturtevant post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Johnson (1875) and Corliss (1901), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 525 in 19102020 census: 6,919103 years

How historic is Sturtevant?

D

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

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

What drives Sturtevant’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sturtevant is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #348 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sturtevant’s overall grade.
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 Sturtevant’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 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 Sturtevant’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sturtevant’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
On the map

Sturtevant on the map, 1892 to 1971

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

Sturtevant on the 1892 USGS mapSturtevant on the 1905 USGS mapSturtevant on the 1959 USGS mapSturtevant on the 1971 USGS map1892Racine 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 Sturtevant.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Sturtevant’s post office has been open since 1923. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Johnson
1875–1876
Corliss
1901–1923
Sturtevant
1923–today
18701950today

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

The story

How Sturtevant came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sturtevant.

Read it all →

Sturtevant was originally known as Parkersville, after the Parker family, early settlers in the area. Other former names for Sturtevant are Western Union Junction and Corliss. The name Corliss referred to the Brown Corliss Engine Company of Milwaukee. The name Sturtevant was selected in 1923, when the Massachusetts-based B. F. Sturtevant Company opened a plant.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sturtevant, 1875 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Johnson post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Johnson post office closes
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901Post officeThe Corliss post office opens
  7. 1923Post officeThe Corliss post office closes
  8. 1923Post officeThe Sturtevant post office opens
  9. 1966In the archiveMILW 79A (F7A) in new paint scheme at Sturtevant, WI on April 12, 1966
By decade

Sturtevant, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

MILW 79A (F7A) in new paint scheme at Sturtevant, WI on April 12, 1966
Retake this viewMILW 79A (F7A) in new paint scheme at Sturtevant, WI on April 12, 1966, 1966

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sturtevant’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Sturtevant, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 6,970

Between 525 and 6,970 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Sturtevant

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

See all →

Questions about Sturtevant’s history

What year was Sturtevant founded?

The Sturtevant post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Sturtevant rank for history?

Sturtevant is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #348 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 Sturtevant?

7% of Sturtevant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1979.

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), Wikipedia, 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.