The story
Read it all →How Webster came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Webster.
The town was founded on April 7, 1856, and named after American statesman Daniel Webster.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Webster
18% of Webster’s homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1926 on and old-book passages.
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
What stands out about Webster’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Webster’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Webster’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Avalanche
Weister
Otter Vale
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Avalanche
Gone or out of use
Brush Hollow SchoolschoolBuckeye SchoolschoolFairview SchoolschoolLyons SchoolschoolOttervale SchoolschoolSalem Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Webster
Brush HollowMount Zion
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Webster in 1884
Passages that mention Webster, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Vernon county, Wisconsin ..1884 · page 491Read the page →
Read the text
Marion Osborn is owner and proprietor of the grist mill at Bloomingdale, and also of saw-mill in the town of Webster, on this branch of the Kickapoo river, tie bought the grist mill in August, 1877, of Hans Hanson and Frederick Olson. Mr. Osborn is a native of Indiana. He came to this county with his father in 1858. He has had large experience in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Vernon county, Wisconsin ..1884 · page 718Read the page →
Read the text
The first postoffice in the town of Webster was established at the village of Avalanche, in 1868, and Robert Welch was duly commissioned by "Uncle Sam" as its first postmaster. He was succeeded by Daniel Busbee, E. Enochson, August Sweger and the present postmistress, Mary Sweger.
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
Webster, 1854 to 1926
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1854Post officeThe Avalanche post office opens
- 1855Post officeThe Weister post office opens
- 1874Post officeThe Weister post office closes
- 1877Post officeThe Otter Vale post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902Post officeThe Otter Vale post office closes
- 1905Post officeThe Avalanche post office closes
- 1926
On 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 albumOn the map
Webster on the map, 1926 to 1983
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Webster. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1926La Farge sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Webster.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Webster
Nobody well known was born in Webster itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Webster’s history
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.