–Not graded

History · Turtle Lake

27% of Turtle Lake’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1900.

0on the National Register

27%homes built before 1940

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

What stands out about Turtle Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Turtle Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Turtle Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Turtle Lake’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story so far

Turtle Lake, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Turtle Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Turtle Lake is a village in Barron and Polk counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Its population was 1,037 at the 2020 census. Of these, 959 were in Barron County, and 78 were in Polk County. The village is located between the towns of Almena, in Barron County, and Beaver, in Polk County.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 624 to 640 (+3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Turtle Lake in 1922

Passages that mention Turtle Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.

**History of Barron County Wisconsin**1922 · page 1110Read the page →
Read the text
The Incorporated village of Turtle Lake Is situated in Sections 30 and 31, town 34 north, range 14 west (Almena Township).
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

gun to learn the cheesemakers’ trade at the age of fifteen and resumed it after leaving the army. In 1908, seeking better opportunities for advancement in life, he came to the United States, landing at New York, June 8, 1908. Thence he came direct to Turtle Lake, Wis., and found employment in the P… — **History of Barron County Wisconsin**1922 · page 164Read the page →
Read the text
gun to learn the cheesemakers’ trade at the age of fifteen and resumed it after leaving the army. In 1908, seeking better opportunities for advancement in life, he came to the United States, landing at New York, June 8, 1908. Thence he came direct to Turtle Lake, Wis., and found employment in the Pioneer Cheese Factory, where he was cheesemaker for a year. After that he worked for a while in the Twintown Cheese Factory, and then in August, 1919, went to the Sunnyside Cheese Factory in Turtle Lake Township as •maker. On August 12, 1920, the original factory burned down, and in the following
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.

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 album

On the map

Turtle Lake on the map, 1950 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Turtle Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1950Turtle Lake sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Turtle Lake.

People over time

Turtle Lake, census by census

Between 324 and 1,065 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Turtle Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use

Clover Leaf SchoolschoolGrant SchoolschoolMoon Lake SchoolschoolPeace ChurchchurchSunny Brook SchoolschoolSunny Slope SchoolschoolWhite Clover Schoolschool

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Turtle Lake

BethanyMount HopePeaceSaint Charles

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.

ClaytonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town ArlandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town ClaytonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Vance CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town AlmenaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Turtle Lake’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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 and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.

Post to Turtle Lake

Check your email