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WinneconneWisconsinDowntown2WIS116Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Winneconne

11% of Winneconne’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Grignon, Augustin, Hotel. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1870.

1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0

What stands out about Winneconne’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 Winneconne are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1870 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.Lost villages6 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1913, drew every building in Winneconne.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Winneconne’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winneconne’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
People over time

Winneconne, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500188019001920194019601980200020201,159 in 1870Low: 745

Lost a third of its people between 1870 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Winneconne’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Butte des MortsClarks PointIndian ShoresLasleys PointPiacenzaRivermoor
1cemetery inside Winneconne
Bell

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Winneconne came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Winneconne.

Read it all →

This area was originally occupied by succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. The historic Menominee people were settled in the area at the time of European encounter. French fur traders from Quebec were among the first to interact with them, followed by Catholic Jesuit missionaries. The area was ruled by Great Britain as part of the Province of Quebec and then acquired by the United States.

ChaptersSecession

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Winneconne in 1880

Passages that mention Winneconne, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Paul Railroad was extended to the Village of Winneconne and the first through passenger train arrived on the first day of September. The railroad depot was established on the river-bank, on the west side.
History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and early history of the Northwest1880 · page 269Read the page →
Read the text

Paul Railroad was extended to the Village of Winneconne and the first through passenger train arrived on the first day of September. The railroad depot was established on the river-bank, on the west side.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The construction of the Winneconne branch of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, to the Village of Winneconne, gives it railroad connections with the leading through lines.
History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and early history of the Northwest1880 · page 265Read the page →
Read the text

The construction of the Winneconne branch of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, to the Village of Winneconne, gives it railroad connections with the leading through lines.

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

Winneconne, 1835 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835Post officeThe Butte Des Mort post office opens
  3. 1887Born hereFrank Bateman Keefe is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 21st century
  7. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,544
By decade

Winneconne, decade by decade

Today6 recent
WinneconneWisconsinWaterTower2010WinneconneWisconsinWaterTowerWinneconneWisconsinSignWIS1162010WinneconneWisconsinSignWIS116WinneconneWisconsinDowntown2WIS1162010WinneconneWisconsinDowntown2WIS116WinneconneWisconsinCityWelcomeSignWIS1162010WinneconneWisconsinCityWelcomeSignWIS116Wis116atWolfRiverWinneconne2006Wis116atWolfRiverWinneconneWIMap-doton-Winneconne2005WIMap-doton-Winneconne
On the map

Winneconne on the map, 1961 to 1975

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

Winneconne on the 1961 USGS mapWinneconne on the 1975 USGS map1961Omro sheet · 1:24,000

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

Every building

Winneconne, building by building, 1893–1913

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.

Winneconne fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Winneconne

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Grignon, Augustin, Hotel
Grignon, Augustin, Hotel
Buildings
All 1 listings
Grignon, Augustin, HotelBuilding · listed 1975

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Omro1 historic placeB+WinchesterIts storyB−PoyganIts storyCVinlandIts storyB

Questions about Winneconne’s history

What is on the National Register in Winneconne?

One place: the Grignon, Augustin, Hotel (listed 1975).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.