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History · White Oak Springs

White Oak Springs’ post office opened in 1836, and 54% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 2000.

1836first post office
0on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How White Oak Springs began

When was White Oak Springs founded?

1836

The White Oak Springs post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, White Oak (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 97 in 20002020 census: 109190 years
Founding year: the first White Oak Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about White Oak Springs’ 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 White Oak Springs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of White Oak Springs’ homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1984. Watch White Oak Springs change.Deep rootsA post office since 1836: 190 years of White Oak Springs.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start White Oak Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how White Oak Springs’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

White Oak Springs, in brief

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

White Oak Springs is a town in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 109 at the 2020 census, down from 118 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of White Oak is located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1836. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 118 to 109 (-8%).

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

On the map

White Oak Springs on the map, 1902 to 1984

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

White Oak Springs on the 1902 USGS mapWhite Oak Springs on the 1952 USGS mapWhite Oak Springs on the 1984 USGS map1902Mineral Point sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of White Oak Springs.

Timeline

White Oak Springs, 1835 to 1908

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835Born hereJohn Wilford Blackstone, Jr. is born here
  3. 1836Post officeThe White Oak Springs post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe White Oak Springs post office closes
  5. 1883Post officeThe White Oak post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1908Post officeThe White Oak post office closes
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.
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People over time

White Oak Springs, census by census

010020002020Peak: 118

Between 97 and 118 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on White Oak Springs’ Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

White Oak Springs had its own post office from 1836 to 1883. Another post office, White Oak, opened and closed inside today’s town.

White Oak Springs
1836–1883
White Oak
1883–1908
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
White Oak
Gone or out of use
Blackstone MinemineCalumet and Hecla MinemineMulcahy Minemine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside White Oak Springs
Old White Oak Springs VillageWhite Oak Springs

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.

Shullsburg1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Diggings1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMonticelloIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about White Oak Springs’ history

What year was White Oak Springs founded?

The White Oak Springs post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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) 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.