The story
Read it all →How Troy came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Troy.
The town was named after Troy, Ohio, the native home of an early settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Troy
35% of Troy’s homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Harrisburg School. Below: maps from 1962 on and old-book passages.
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
What stands out about Troy’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 Troy’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Troy’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Harrisburg
Black Hawk
Cassell
Witwen
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Black HawkCassellWitwen
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Troy
CassellUnion Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Troy, 1880–1918
Passages that mention Troy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, containing an account of settlement, growth, development and resources ... biographical sketches ... the whole preceded by a history of Wisconsin1880 · page 815Read the page →
Read the text
Thomas married in Worcester, Mass. ; maiden name of his wife was Isabella P. Brown ; she was a native of Paxton, in that State ; they have two sons — Robert E. and Eugene F. ; Mr. Thomas and wife were among the first settlers of what is now the town of Troy, and are now the oldest residents in the southeastern part of the town, and fully appreciate the changes made since the early days, when the town of Troy was almost entirely a wilderness. Mr. Thomas is one of those enterprising and energetic men to whom much credit is due for the establishment of many beneficial interests, always taking an active part in educational and religious matters. He was several years a member and Chairman of the Town Board of Supervisors, and has filled nearly all of the town offices several times; he has been a member of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin1918 · page 559Read the page →
Read the text
Town op Troy "The town of Troy is perhaps the more important of this group, inasmuch as it is the largest in topographical area, containing as it does fifty-three sections, and being, therefore, the largest in area of any Sauk county town, and embracing with its southern borders the interesting little settlement called Cassell. I am unable to find anything bearing upon the origin of the name, Troy, as herein applied, but find that the settlement of Cassell was so named in honor of a Dr. Cassell.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin1918 · page 564Read the page →
Read the text
' ' Bear Creek, Spring Green and Honey Creek had their names before we came here in 1846, but Franklin and Troy were named afterwards. In regard to the name of Troy : When they were going to set off another town Henry Keifer proposed to call it either Bloomfield or Troy, in honor of so many of the settlers coming from Bloomfield and Troy townships in Ohio. The name Troy was chosen.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, containing an account of settlement, growth, development and resources ... biographical sketches ... the whole preceded by a history of Wisconsin1880 · page 341Read the page →
Read the text
In January, 1857, Town 13, Range 2, was set off from the town of Marston, the new town being called Woodland. In December of the same year, the town of Troy was organized out of the towns of Honey Creek and Spring Green. The organization of the town of Excelsior bears the same date, it having been formed out of the towns of Dellona and Freedom. The territory of the town, of Freedom was further abridged, about this time, by Sections 19, 20, 29, 30, 31 and 32 being attached to the town of Baraboo.
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
Troy, 1855 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1855Post officeThe Harrisburg post office opens
- 1858Post officeThe Harrisburg post office closes
- 1866Post officeThe Black Hawk post office opens
- 1883Post officeThe Cassell post office opens
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Cassell post office closes
- 1906Post officeThe Black Hawk post office closes
- 1962
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
Troy on the map in 1962
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Troy.
1962Blue Mounds 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 Troy.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Troy
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2015
Harrisburg School
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Troy
Nobody well known was born in Troy itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
A
Alexander WetmoreAmerican ornithologist and avian paleontologist · b. 1886
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Troy’s history
What is on the National Register in Troy?
One place: the Harrisburg School (listed 2015).
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.