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–Not graded
History · Washburn

26% of Washburn’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1970 on.

0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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

Start Washburn’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Washburn’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
The story so far

Washburn, in brief

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

There is also the City of Washburn and the Town of Wasburn in Bayfield County. Washburn is a town in Clark County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 289 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Shortville is located in the town.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 290 in 2010, 289 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Washburn, 1880 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Shortville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Shortville post office closes
  5. 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Washburn on the map, 1970 to 1985

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

Washburn on the 1970 USGS mapWashburn on the 1985 USGS map1970Hatfield NE 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 Washburn.

Famous people

Famous people close to Washburn

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

See all →
Virginia SatirAmerican psychotherapist & non-fiction author · b. 1916
J
Jerome P. TheisenAmerican Benedictine monk · b. 1930
Mary LazichAmerican politician · b. 1952
Michael PhairCanadian politician · b. 1950
Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr.United States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1925
Sandra A. GregoryUnited States general
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Shortville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Shortville
Gone or out of use
South Washburn Schoolschool

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

LevisIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCity PointIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrantIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSherwoodIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Washburn’s history

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.