The Three Lakes post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Clearwater Lake (1908), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,413141 years
How historic is Three Lakes?
B+
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Three Lakes post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Three Lakes’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Three Lakes is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Three Lakes’ 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 Three Lakes’ 285 sits above most of its state (99% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 66 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 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 Three Lakes’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Three Lakes, Wisconsin was named for the three lakes the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway encountered while developing a new route due north to Watersmeet, Michigan and then west to Ashland, Wisconsin: The railway route diverted slightly west around the three lakes which were named Maple, Townline, and Range Line lakes. It formally became a town in 1881.
The Three Lakes post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Three Lakes rank for history?
Three Lakes is more historic than 68% 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.
What is on the National Register in Three Lakes?
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Jollywood (listed 2003, the first), and 1 historic district, the Three Lakes Rod and Gun Club, with 53 contributing buildings. 66 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Three Lakes?
12% of Three Lakes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
