–Not graded

History · Union

31% of Union’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Kasper, Philip H., Cheese Factory. Below: maps from 1970 on and old-book passages.

1on the National Register

31%homes built before 1940

What stands out about Union’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 Union are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Union, and 2 old place names are still on the map.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Union’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union’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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Marble

1863–1901

Symco

1865–1907

18601940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

MarbleSymco

Gone or out of use

Dellwood SchoolschoolKnowledge Hill SchoolschoolLittle Mountain SchoolschoolMarble SchoolschoolSchool Number 2schoolState Road Schoolschool

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Union

DanishMarbleUnion

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Union, in brief

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

Union is a town in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 778 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Symco is located in the town. The ghost town of Marble was also located in the town.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 806 to 778 (-3%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Union in 1890

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 … — Soldiers and citizens' album of biographical record [of Wisconsin] containing personal sketches of army men and citizens prominent in loyalty to the Union. Also a chronological and statistical history of the civil war and a history of the Grand Army of th1890 · page 47Read the page →
Read the text
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.

operated until he entered the service of the Government during the war. In the fall of 1863 he engaged as a bridge builder in Tennessee along the line of operations of the Union troops there stationed. After his contract was completed he returned to Racine and, in the fall, enlisted in Company K, 1… — Soldiers and citizens' album of biographical record [of Wisconsin] containing personal sketches of army men and citizens prominent in loyalty to the Union. Also a chronological and statistical history of the civil war and a history of the Grand Army of th1890 · page 686Read the page →
Read the text
operated until he entered the service of the Government during the war. In the fall of 1863 he engaged as a bridge builder in Tennessee along the line of operations of the Union troops there stationed. After his contract was completed he returned to Racine and, in the fall, enlisted in Company K, 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery and went with his command
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

Union, 1863 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1863Post officeThe Marble post office opens
1865Post officeThe Symco post office opens
20th century
1901Post officeThe Marble post office closes
1907Post officeThe Symco post office closes
1970On 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.

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On the map

Union on the map, 1970 to 1993

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

1970Symco sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Union

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1976

Kasper, Philip H., Cheese Factory

Buildings

All 1 listings

Kasper, Philip H., Cheese FactoryBuilding · listed 1976

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Union

Nobody well known was born in Union itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →

Everett C. OlsonU.S. paleontologist, zoologist, and geologist · b. 1910

Robert F. MorneauCatholic bishop · b. 1938

William Frederick MeggersAmerican physicist · b. 1888

Edward E. BrowneU.S. Representative from Wisconsin · b. 1868

Chester NelsenCyclist · b. 1902

Dave KriegAmerican football player · b. 1958

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

DupontIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Bear CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town HelvetiaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Little WolfIts storyC⁺

Questions about Union’s history

What is on the National Register in Union?

One place: the Kasper, Philip H., Cheese Factory (listed 1976).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.

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