Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1954 on and old-book passages.
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 Vilas’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Vilas yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Vilas is a town in Langlade County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 226 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 233 to 226 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Vilas, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Thirty-one new highways have been authorized and laid out by Vilas since June 21, 1887, up to and including May 10, 1920. The B. Heinemann Lumber Company owns vast amounts of cut-over and timber lands in the township.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Vilas township was organized November 11, 1886, after a resolution written by J. H. Trever, then District Attorney, was passed by a 10-3 vote of the members of the Langlade County Board. It originally consisted of township 32 of both ranges 9 and 10 east. January 28, 1891, township 32 of range 10 was detached from Vilas township to form Peck township. The township has remained as one congressional township since then.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vilas. 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 Vilas.
Nobody well known was born in Vilas itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
