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History · Whittlesey

Whittlesey’s post office opened in 1882, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

1882first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Whittlesey began

When was Whittlesey founded?

1882

The Whittlesey post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 97144 years
Founding year: the first Whittlesey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Whittlesey’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 Whittlesey are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Whittlesey’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whittlesey’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Whittlesey, in brief

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

Whittlesey is a census-designated place in the town of Chelsea, Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, Whittlesey had a population of 97. The community of Whittlesey was started in the 1870s when the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company built its line up through the forests, heading for Ashland. The railroad placed a station seven miles north of Medford where the line touched the Little Black River. It named the station Whittlesey, probably for Asaph Whittlesey, an early state legislator from Ashland, or possibly for geologist Charles Whittlesey who surveyed the area. Several sawmills operated in Whittlesey starting in the 1880s. One built a 240-foot dam across the ri…

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 105 to 97 (-8%).

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

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.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Whittlesey

Nobody well known was born in Whittlesey itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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J
Jeane DixonAmerican astrologer and psychic · b. 1904
Charles WinningerActor · b. 1884
Jack PerkinsActor · b. 1921
Dale LewisAmerican professional and amateur wrestler · b. 1933
Erny PinckertAmerican football player · b. 1907
Russ DeckerAmerican politician · b. 1953

Questions about Whittlesey’s history

What year was Whittlesey founded?

The Whittlesey post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

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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 →