On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sun Prairie is more historic than 36% 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 Sun Prairie’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 Sun Prairie’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Sun Prairie’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
President Martin Van Buren commissioned a party of 45 men, including Augustus A. Bird, to build a capital for the Territory of Wisconsin in Madison. The group left Milwaukee on May 26, 1837, and traveled for days in the rain. On June 9, the group emerged at the edge of the prairie and with the sun shining for the first time in days, carved the words "Sun Prairie" into a tree. Charles Bird returned to the area two years later and became the first settler.
The Town of Sun Prairie was created on February 2, 1846. The village of Sun Prairie, which grew from that town, was incorporated in an act of the Wisconsin legislature on March 6, 1868.
Passages that mention Sun Prairie, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Dane County, Wisconsin ... preceded by a history of Wisconsin, statistics of the state, and an abstract of its laws and constitution and of the Constitution of the United States1880 · page 312Read the page →
Read the text
west line Section 4, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 278 feet; Deanville depot, 305 feet; west line Section 5, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 295 feet; west line section 6, Township 8, Range 12 east (Medina), 377 feet; west line Section 1, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 315 feet; west line Section 2, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 374 feet; west line Section 3, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 393 feet; west line Section 4, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 369 feet; Sun Prairie depot, 356 feet; west line Section 8, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 349 feet; west line Section 18, Township 8, Range 11 east (Sun Prairie), 341 feet; south line Section 13, Township 8, Range 10 east
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin1874 · page 396Read the page →
Read the text
from the south and runs northerly from Madison through the western part, passing into Columbia county; and the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad which enters on the south line in section 33, and runs north¬ easterly into the town of Sun Prairie. The town was first settled about 1841-2. Among the early residents were Horace Lawrence, Adam^Smith, and George H. Spalding.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Dane County, Wisconsin ... preceded by a history of Wisconsin, statistics of the state, and an abstract of its laws and constitution and of the Constitution of the United States1880 · page 833Read the page →
Read the text
To a great extent, the history of the town of Sun Prairie is a history of the village of the same name. The first marriage, the first birth, the first death and the first school in the town were likewise the first in the village. Previous to the year 1844, Charles H. Bird, John Myers, David C. Butterfield, Charles S. Peaslee and Benjamin Knight, located upon Section 5, of Township 8, Range 11 east, forming the first settlement made in the town.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Madison, Dane County and surrounding towns1877 · page 316Read the page →
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The township of Sun Prairie was organized in the year 1839, and included all that district which now constitutes the townships of York, Medina, Bristol and Sun Prairie. The first election, or town meeting, was held in the spring of 1840, at the house of Mr.
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
Sun Prairie, 1849 to 1995
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewBird's-Eye.View Sun Prairie ca.1875, c. 1875
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sun Prairie’s page.
Sun Prairie is more historic than 36% 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 Sun Prairie?
14% of Sun Prairie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
