The Sugar Creek post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Baker's Corners (1849), Millard (1851) and Tibbets (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 3,902186 years
How historic is Sugar Creek?
A−
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Sugar Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Sugar Creek’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sugar Creek is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #82 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sugar Creek’s overall grade.
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 Sugar Creek’s 12.9 sits above most of its state (79% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 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 Sugar Creek’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sugar Creek. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1893Delavan 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 Sugar Creek.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Sugar Creek had its own post office from 1840 to 1872. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Sugar Creek
1840–1872
Baker's Corners
1849–1853
Millard
1851–1906
Tibbets
1888–1902
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MillardTibbets
Gone or out of use
Weedhopper Meadow Airportairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sugar Creek
MillardMount PleasantSugar Creek Lutheran
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Sugar Creek, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sugar Creek yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Sugar Creek is a town in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,902 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Millard and Tibbets are located in the town. The unincorporated community of Abells Corners is also located partially in the town.
Its first post office opened in 1840. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 3,943 in 2010, 3,902 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Sugar Creek, 1882–1912
Passages that mention Sugar Creek, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources...its war record, biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers1882 · page 472Read the page →
Read the text
March 21, 1843, the town of La Grange was detached from the remaining ten-itory (Town 4, Range 16), leaving under the name of Elkhorn Town 3, Range 16, it being the present town of Sugar Creek, less a single section. Its boundaries remained unchanged until February 2, 1846, at which time, by act of the Legislatiu-e, a new town of Elkhorn was incorporated, which embraced but a single section of the original town, viz.. Section 36, in Town 3, Range 16. By that act, the present town of Elkhorn was established. The boundaries were described as follows: "All that part of the county of Walworth comprised in Section 36, in the town of Elkhorn; Section 1, in the town of Delavan: Section 6, in the town of Geneva, and Section 31, in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources...its war record, biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers1882 · page 921Read the page →
Read the text
La Fayette is watered by Sugar Creek, which, rising in the town of Sugar Creek, enters La Fayette on Section seven, and runs easterly a little north of the center of the town through Sections seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, a part of fourteen and eleven, and enters the Town of Spring Prairie from section twelve. There are no lakes, of any considerable size, and no living stream save Sugar Creek.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Walworth county, Wisconsin ..1912 · page 54Read the page →
Read the text
inconvenient for various county purposes, and in 1846 section 1 of Delavan, section 6 of Geneva, section 31 of Lafayette, and section 36 of the town of Elkhorn were set off as a new town and village of Elkhorn, and the larger remnant of the old town was renamed Sugar Creek. Thus, the list of towns became complete : Bloomfield, Darien, Delavan, East Troy, Elkhorn, Geneva, Hudson, Lafayette, Lagrange, Linn, Richmond, Sharon, Spring Prairie, Sugar Creek, Troy, Walworth, Whitewater. In 1865 Hudson was newly named Lyons. (In the newer county of St. Croix the names of Hudson,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Sugar Creek, 1840 to 1906
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Sugar Creek post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Sugar Creek rank for history?
Sugar Creek is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #82 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.
What is on the National Register in Sugar Creek?
One place: the Wandawega Inn (listed 2015).
How old are the homes in Sugar Creek?
13% of Sugar Creek’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
