Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Heart Prairie Lutheran Church and the Anson Warner Farmstead. Most of Whitewater was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Whitewater is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Whitewater’s 50.9 sits above most of its state (88% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
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 Whitewater’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Whitewater. 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 Whitewater.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Whitewater.
Whitewater was founded at the confluence of Whitewater Creek and Spring Brook, and named for the white sand in their beds. A gristmill was built on Whitewater creek, the resulting pond now called Cravath Lake. The town grew quickly when the first railroad line in Wisconsin passed through in 1853, but struggled when the two largest employers left town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereFranklin Hiram King is born here
Born hereEva Kinney Griffith is born here
BuiltHeart Prairie Lutheran Church is built
In the archiveView of the city of Whitewater, Wis. Walworth-County 1855
In the archiveCrowds gathered in front of the Old Main building at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewat…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereElaine Roe is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Whitewater’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 2,731 people in 1860 to 14,889 in 2020, 5 times over.
16 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Whitewater’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Whitewater is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Two places: the Heart Prairie Lutheran Church (listed 1974) and the Anson Warner Farmstead (1998).
7% of Whitewater’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1976.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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