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History · Waldo

Waldo dates to 1871, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Onion River Flouring Mill/Grist Mill. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1880.

1871founded
1on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Waldo began

When was Waldo founded?

1871

Waldo dates its founding to 1871 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 110 in 18802020 census: 467155 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1877.The full story ↓

What stands out about Waldo’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 Waldo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Waldo’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Waldo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Waldo.

Read it all →

The village was originally established as Lyndon Station (named for the town it resides in) when the Milwaukee and Northern Railway Company laid their tracks through in 1871. Starting in Milwaukee by 1873 the line had reached Green Bay, Wi. On June 20, 1890, the line was acquired by the Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul and Pacific Railroad) operating as the Green Bay Sub. The section between Milwaukee and Plymouth, Wi is currently operated by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad and is used as a secondary freight only line serving local industry, as the Plymouth Sub.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Waldo in 1912

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

WALDO Waldo is a station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad and is fituated on section 14, through which crosses the Onion river. The village was platted by N. C. Harmon in 1873, shortly after the building of Milwauk * & Northern railroad. It was not long thereafter until an elevator was…
History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, past and present1912Read the page →
Read the text

WALDO Waldo is a station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad and is fituated on section 14, through which crosses the Onion river. The village was platted by N. C. Harmon in 1873, shortly after the building of Milwauk * & Northern railroad. It was not long thereafter until an elevator was H, then came a store building by Henry Jordan and a hotel by F. Frei- It. In 1878 the postoffice was discontinued at Onion River and moved to \ '^aldo. The first settlement in Onion River was made in 1846. A few

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
years later a mill was built on the river and in 1852 a postoffice was established. A grist mill was erected in 1854, also a store building but after the railroad had been built through Waldo, Onion River ceased to be a trading point of any consequence and at present it has lost its identity in tha…
History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, past and present1912Read the page →
Read the text

years later a mill was built on the river and in 1852 a postoffice was established. A grist mill was erected in 1854, also a store building but after the railroad had been built through Waldo, Onion River ceased to be a trading point of any consequence and at present it has lost its identity in that of its close neighbor, Waldo.

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

Waldo, 1871 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871
    FoundingWaldo is established
  3. 1877Post officeThe Waldo post office opens
  4. 1895Born hereOrton Keyes is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Waldo, decade by decade

Today4 recent
WaldoWisconsinPostOffice2009WaldoWisconsinPostOfficeWaldoHighSchoolWIS282009WaldoHighSchoolWIS28WaldoWisconsinWIS57WIS282007WaldoWisconsinWIS57WIS28WaldoWisconsinFireDepartment2007WaldoWisconsinFireDepartment
On the map

Waldo on the map, 1954 to 1994

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

Waldo on the 1954 USGS mapWaldo on the 1974 USGS mapWaldo on the 1994 USGS map1954Sheboygan Falls 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 Waldo.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Waldo

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Onion River Flouring Mill/Grist Mill
Onion River Flouring Mill/Grist Mill
Buildings
All 1 listings
Onion River Flouring Mill/Grist MillBuilding · listed 1984

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

People over time

Waldo, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 503

Between 110 and 503 people in every census since 1880.

11 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Waldo’s history

What year was Waldo founded?

In 1871, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Waldo’s post office opened in 1877, and the census of 1880 counted 110 people here.

What is on the National Register in Waldo?

One place: the Onion River Flouring Mill/Grist Mill (listed 1984).

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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.