Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1920 on and old-book passages.
The Sylvester post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sylvester is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Sylvester’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sylvester’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sylvester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sylvester.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sylvester yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Sylvester is a town in Green County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 1,001.
Its first post office opened in 1851. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,004 in 2010, 1,001 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Sylvester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
William Bulfinch removed with his family, to this county, in the fall of 1844, The first winter they lived in town of Sylvester, when, owing to the loss of their household goods by shipwreck on Lake Michigan, they went to Winnebago Co., 111., and remained until the fall of 1849. They then returned to this county and settled upon section 22, of the town of Syl-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ing day took a steamer at Br.ownsville, on the Monongahela river, thence went down the Oliio, and up the Mississippi to Galena, and from there with ox team to the town of Sylvester, which place they reached April 19, forty-seven years ago. His brother-in-law, Joseph Woodle, with a wife and five children, accompanied him, and these men were the first settlers of
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Sylvester itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Sylvester had its own post office from 1851 to 1897.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Sylvester post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Sylvester is more historic than 51% 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.
33% of Sylvester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1974.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
