Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Cooper-Gillies House and the John C. and Mary Robinson Farmstead. Below: maps from 1889 on and old-book passages.
The Union post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Union’s 49.2 sits above most of its state (88% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 Union’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Union. 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 Union.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Union yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
The Town of Union is located in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2020 census. The town surrounds the city of Evansville.
Its first post office opened in 1840. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,099 in 2010, 2,104 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Union, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Sept. 6. — The advance of Lee's army reached Frederick, Md.— At Washington, N. C, the Union garrison was surprised and the attacking party was driven out, the Union loss being eight killed and 36 wounded, and the rebel lo.ss being five times as great. During the engagement, the magazine of a Union gunboat exploded, killing and wounding 18. — In an action
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.![Sept. 10.— At Fayette C. H., W. Va., 5,000 rebels attacked the Union garrison, who cut their way through and escaped, losing 100 in killed and wounded.— Gauley Bridge, Va., was evacuated by the Union troops. — The gunboat Essex bombarded Natchez in retaliation for having ])een fired into and the ci…](https://images.townratings.com/story/35290/bk-5406e55bcfdb1c64-l.jpg)
Sept. 10.— At Fayette C. H., W. Va., 5,000 rebels attacked the Union garrison, who cut their way through and escaped, losing 100 in killed and wounded.— Gauley Bridge, Va., was evacuated by the Union troops. — The gunboat Essex bombarded Natchez in retaliation for having ])een fired into and the city surrendered.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Union had its own post office from 1840 to 1902.
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 Union post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Union is more historic than 89% 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.
Two places: the Cooper-Gillies House (listed 1980) and the John C. and Mary Robinson Farmstead (2010).
21% of Union’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
