The story
Read it all →How Sumner came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Sumner.
The town was named for Charles Sumner, a politician who was a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and ally of Abraham Lincoln.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Sumner
Sumner’s post office opened in 1855, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1940 on and old-book passages.
1855first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Sumner began
When was Sumner founded?
1855
The Sumner post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Glen Valley (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 840171 years
Founding year: the first Sumner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Sumner’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 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.From the old history books
What they wrote about Sumner in 1917
Passages that mention Sumner, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin1917 · page 202Read the page →
Read the text
After the organization of the town of Sumner the voters at the settlement had come to Osseo to vote. At a town meeting the men of the settlement asserted their right to share in the town meeting, which was fair.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin1917 · page 895Read the page →
Read the text
First Meeting in Sumner. "At the first town meeting held in the town of Sumner, April 6, 1858, the following number of votes were cast for town oflficers: William Harman received 13 votes for chairman supervisor; James T. King, 13 for supervisor ; Jay H. Chase, 13 for supervisor ; Alvin H.
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
Sumner, 1855 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 albumOn the map
Sumner on the map, 1940 to 1984
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sumner. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1940Osseo sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sumner.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Sumner
Nobody well known was born in Sumner itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
J
John Bethune MelbyAmerican composer · b. 1941Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Sumner had its own post office from 1855 to 1867. Another post office, Glen Valley, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Sumner
Glen Valley
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Golden Valley SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolPine Creek SchoolschoolSouth Valley SchoolschoolTracy Valley Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Sumner
South Valley
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.
Questions about Sumner’s history
What year was Sumner founded?
The Sumner post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, 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.