Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Wauzeka

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Wauzeka

Half of Wauzeka’s homes were built after 1993

Most of Wauzeka was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1926 on and the census since 1900.

0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

Where Wauzeka’s name came from

How did Wauzeka get its name?

Wauzeka was named after a Native American leader whose Ho-Chunk name, Waaziga, means Pine Tree.

Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

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

Start Wauzeka’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wauzeka’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

How Wauzeka came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wauzeka.

Read it all →

The village of Wauzeka was platted in 1856 by Hercules L. Dousman, with an addition in 1857 by local Mexican–American War veteran John McHarg. It was named after a Native American leader whose Ho-Chunk name, Waaziga, means Pine Tree. The village was connected to the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad in 1857 and possessed various sawmills in the nineteenth century to process pine lumber rafted down the Kickapoo River.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Wauzeka, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Farm with Two Silos - panoramio (26)2013Farm with Two Silos - panoramio (26)Farm near Wisconsin River2013Farm near Wisconsin RiverFarm near2013Farm nearFarm near Steuben2013Farm near SteubenFarm Near Boscobel2013Farm Near BoscobelCommunication Tower - panoramio (3)2013Communication Tower - panoramio (3)
On the map

Wauzeka on the map, 1926 to 1983

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

Wauzeka on the 1926 USGS mapWauzeka on the 1967 USGS mapWauzeka on the 1983 USGS map1926Wauzeka 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 Wauzeka.

People over time

Wauzeka, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 768

Between 437 and 768 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Dutch Ridge SchoolschoolGran Grae SchoolschoolHarris Ridge SchoolschoolRider SchoolschoolSchurz SchoolschoolWauzeka Ridge Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wauzeka
Dutch RidgeGran Grae

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.

WoodmanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMillvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMariettaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEastmanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPrairie du Chien1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBridgeportIts storyC−

Questions about Wauzeka’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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.