–Not graded

History · Sumner

Sumner’s post office opened in 1890, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Lorine Niedecker Cottage. Below: maps from 1891 on.

1890first post office

1on the National Register

33%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Sumner began

When was Sumner founded?

1890

The Sumner post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Busseyville (1863), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 846136 years

Founding year: the first Sumner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sumner’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 Sumner are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18914 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1971. Watch Sumner change.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Sumner, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Sumner’s homes were built before 1955.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sumner’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sumner’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

On the map

Sumner on the map, 1891 to 1971

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

1891Koshkonong 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 Sumner.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Sumner had its own post office from 1890 to 1904. Another post office, Busseyville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Busseyville

1863–1890

Sumner

1890–1904

18601940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

BusseyvilleCarcajouGlenn Oaks BeachKoshkonong ManorLake KoshkonongNorth Shore

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sumner

BusseyvilleUnion

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

The story so far

Sumner, in brief

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

Sumner is a town in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 846 at the 2020 census. The census-designated place of Lake Koshkonong and the unincorporated communities of Busseyville, Carcajou, Glenn Oaks Beach, Koshkonong Manor, and North Shore are located within the town. The community of Blackhawk Island is located partially in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 832 in 2010, 846 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Sumner, 1863 to 1946

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

19th century
1863Post officeThe Busseyville post office opens
1890Post officeThe Busseyville post office closes
1890Post officeThe Sumner post office opens
1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1904Post officeThe Sumner post office closes
1946BuiltLorine Niedecker Cottage is built

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.

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On the National Register

1 historic place in Sumner

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2018

Lorine Niedecker Cottage

Buildings

Lorine Niedecker CottageBuilt 1946

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Koshkonong2 historic placesB⁺Oakland1 historic placeB⁺Albion1 historic placeA⁻Lake Koshkonong2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sumner’s history

What year was Sumner founded?

The Sumner post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Sumner?

One place: the Lorine Niedecker Cottage (listed 2018).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.

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