Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Flambeau Mission Church. Most of Washington was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1971 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 Washington’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Washington yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Washington is a town in Rusk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 360 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 339 to 360 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Washington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
shelves, and that a knowledge of their characteristics was therefore in danger of being entirely tost. The cause of this state of things, by the way, may be directly traced to the time of George Washington, for, when he removed the seat of Government from New York to Philadelphia in 1790, Congress enacted a law whereby "the decayed furnishings of the President's House should be sold for refurnishing the new house in Philadelphia." Thereafter, when the city of Washington became the permanent home
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Another monument pitcher gives a crude drawing of a shaft adorned with Washington's bust, the line, ''Washington in Glory'* above, and below, "America in Tears,'* accompanied by the historic dates, while a weeping figure and weeping willow again symbolize the nation's sorrow. Still other Washington pitchers record such eulogistic legends in honor of him and of the freedom he achieved as, "First in War, First in Peace, First
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 Washington. 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 Washington.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Washington itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
One place: the Flambeau Mission Church (listed 1979).
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
