Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #71 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 42 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
The Whitewater post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 83% 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 83% of U.S. towns, #71 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 29.7 sits above most of its state (85% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 47 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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.
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.
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.
Passages that mention Whitewater, cut from the printed page as they were published.
legal officers, there exists no village government, and that in the absence of all such government, it l)ccomes the duty of the Supervisors of the town to extend town government over the territory embraced within the village incorporation ; therefore, "Resulved, That we, the Supervisors of the Town of Whitewater, do hereby declare our intention of exercising the powers and duties of Supervisors, as fully witliin the territory embraced in the incorporated village of Whitewater as in anj' other parts of said town.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
When, by act of the Territoral Legislatm-e. approved February 2. 1838, the county of Walworth was first divided into towns, the territory now constituting the town of Kichmoud was a part of the town of Elkhorn. It so remained until February 18, 1840, when, by an act of the Legislature approved on that day, what is now the towns of Whitewater and Richmond— being Towns 3 and 4 in Range 15 east — were erected into a single town and called Whitewater. By an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved January 12, 1841, the south half of the town of Whitewater, being Town 3 in Range 15 east, was erected into a new one and called Richmond, fi'om a town of the same name in Rhode Island, from which came a few of its earliest settlers.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltHalverson Log Cabin is built
Born hereFranklin Hiram King is born here
Born hereEva Kinney Griffith is born here
In the archiveView of the city of Whitewater, Wis. Walworth-County 1855
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltWhitewater Hotel is built
Born hereElaine Roe is born hereBuiltEast Wing (Old Main) is builtBuiltWhitewater Post Office is builtOne decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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 · +15Grew 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.
Whitewater’s post office has been open since 1840.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Whitewater post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Whitewater is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #71 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the East Wing (Old Main) (listed 1984, the first), and 1 historic district, the Main Street Historic District, with 42 contributing buildings. 47 historic buildings in all.
12% of Whitewater’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (1), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
