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History · Wittenberg

Wittenberg’s post office opened in 1880, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wittenberg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wittenberg began

When was Wittenberg founded?

1880

The Wittenberg post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 726 in 18902020 census: 1,015146 years
Founding year: the first Wittenberg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Wittenberg’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1919, drew every building in Wittenberg.
★ What stands out · Every building

Wittenberg, building by building, 1894–1919

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.

Wittenberg fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 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.

The story

How Wittenberg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wittenberg.

Read it all →

In 1886, the Wittenberg Indian School was established by the Norwegian Evangelical Church of America after a purchase of land in Winnebago traditional territory. This was a residential school for Native American children who the government removed from their families as part of an effort to assimilate Native Americans into white American culture. It was also known as the Bethany Indian Mission. Initial attempts to recruit students for the school were met with resistance, particularly from Winnebago "medicine men" who the missionaries believed were concerned about their intention to convert the children to Christianity. The school initially only taught a few children but eventually expanded to include over a hundred students who came from the Winnebago, Oneida, Stockbridge, Brothertown, Menominee, Mohawk and Chippewa. The school was sold to the government in 1900 and operated until 1917,…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wittenberg, 1880 to 1988

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Wittenberg post office opens
  3. 1886Born hereHelmer Swenholt is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911In the archiveWittenberg Academy
  6. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1988In the archiveA & W Root Beer sign
By decade

Wittenberg, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s4 items
Wittenberg Academy1911Wittenberg AcademyVinal St1911Vinal StHomme Orphas Home1911Homme Orphas HomeC. & N.W. Ry. [i.e. Chicago & Northwestern Railway] Depot1911C. & N.W. Ry. [i.e. Chicago & Northwestern Railway] D…
1920s–1970snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1980s1 item
A & W Root Beer sign1988A & W Root Beer sign
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Souvenir of the Bethany Indian MissionDate?Souvenir of the Bethany Indian MissionBook
Today7 recent
Wittenberg Tower2012Wittenberg TowerVery Large Barn2012Very Large BarnFireworks Country Barn2012Fireworks Country BarnBest Western Wittenberg Inn2012Best Western Wittenberg InnATC Power Line - panoramio (3)2012ATC Power Line - panoramio (3)WittenbergWisconsinWateTower2010WittenbergWisconsinWateTower2009-0620-Wittenberg20092009-0620-Wittenberg
On the map

Wittenberg on the map, 1964 to 1982

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

Wittenberg on the 1964 USGS mapWittenberg on the 1982 USGS map1964Wittenberg sheet · 1:62,500

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Wittenberg Academy
Retake this viewWittenberg Academy, 1911

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Wittenberg’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Wittenberg, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,177

Between 726 and 1,177 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Wittenberg’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewWittenberg Academy: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Wittenberg’s history

What year was Wittenberg founded?

The Wittenberg post office opened in 1880, 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 →
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 (9), the Library of Congress (4), 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 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.