Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #30 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 21 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1880.
Viroqua dates its founding to 1844 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Viroqua is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #30 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age 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 Viroqua’s 60.4 sits above most of its state (90% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 27 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Viroqua’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1892Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Viroqua.
The Native American Ho-Chunk people inhabited the area now known as Vernon County and the area of Viroqua. The Ho-Chunk, formerly known as the Winnebago, are a Siouan-speaking people who lived in the western Great Lakes region for thousands of years. The Ho-Chunk were removed westward beginning in the 1820s.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Viroqua, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1855-6 I was assessor and collector of taxes tor the town of Viroqua, with the exception of the new town of Hillsboro, which embraced the two townships east of the meridian line. The town of Viroqua embraced all the territory of the northeastern part of the county, including the present town of Christiana. In the winter when I was collecting
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Liberty, the smallest town in Vernon county, was last to be organized. It was formerly a part of Viroqua town; but on account of being so far from the village of Viroqua, the people chose to be set off into a separate organization, which was done in 1858; Allen Rusk presenting a petition, signed by many of the citizens, to the county board, requesting them to set off
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The name of the town of Viroqua was formerly Farwell. As a general chapter is devoted to the creation and changes of name and boundaries of towns, it is unnecessary to here refer to the various changes through which the town of Viroqua has passed in assuming its present limits.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The name of the town of Viroqua was formerly Farwell. As a general chapter is devoted to the creation and changes of name and boundaries of towns, it is unnecessary to here refer to the various changes through which the town of Viroqua has passed in assuming its present limits.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJames Gillett is born here
In the archiveGreat tornado in Wisconsin, June 28 - the almost entire destruction of the village of Vir…BuiltBekkedal Leaf Tobacco Warehouse is built
In the archiveFrederick Cecil Finkle (Out West, 1909)BuiltMasonic Temple Building is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMark C. Lee is born here
Born hereButch Vig is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Viroqua. 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 Viroqua.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Viroqua’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 762 people in 1880 to 4,504 in 2020, 5 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Viroqua’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Viroqua’s post office has been open since 1852.
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.
In 1844, according to Wikidata. Viroqua’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1880 counted 762 people here.
Viroqua is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #30 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Vernon County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Viroqua Downtown Historic District, with 21 contributing buildings. 27 historic buildings in all.
25% of Viroqua’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
