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History · Wonewoc

Wonewoc’s post office opened in 1856, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1908 on.

1856first post office
0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wonewoc’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wonewoc began

When was Wonewoc founded?

1856

The Wonewoc post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1878.

2020 census: 758170 years
Founding year: the first Wonewoc post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1878.The full story ↓

What stands out about Wonewoc’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Wonewoc’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wonewoc’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1908-09-24 St Jerome's Catholic Church,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Wonewoc came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wonewoc.

Read it all →

The name “Wonewoc” is of Indigenous American origin, probably meaning "howling hills". However, at the time of colonization, the site and subsequent town were known to the native Hoocąk (Winnebago) people as Wonį́wąk, which derives ultimately from an infinitive meaning, "to be wicked, bad." However, Josephine White Eagle says that wōnį́wąk means more precisely, "you (sg.) are naughty, foolish, not thinking." Apparently, a settler asked a native resident, "What do you call this place?" and the man replied, "You're a knucklehead."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wonewoc, 1856 to 1908

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Wonewoc post office opens
  3. 1859Born hereElmore Y. Sarles is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908In the archive1908-09-24 St Jerome's Catholic Church, Wonewoc Wis A
By decade

Wonewoc, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
1908-09-24 St Jerome's Catholic Church, Wonewoc Wis A19081908-09-24 St Jerome's Catholic Church, Wonewoc Wis A
1910s–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
Today5 recent
PublicLibraryWonowocWI2024PublicLibraryWonowocWIDowntownWonowocWI2024DowntownWonowocWIDowntown2019DowntownUS Navy 081020-N-4954I-005 Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class Ryan Clogston hands a flashlight to Aviation Elect…2008US Navy 081020-N-4954I-005 Aviation Electronics Techn…WIMap-doton-Wonewoc2004WIMap-doton-Wonewoc
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.

1908-09-24 St Jerome's Catholic Church, Wonewoc Wis A
Retake this view1908-09-24 St Jerome's Catholic Church, Wonewoc Wis A, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Wonewoc’s history

What year was Wonewoc founded?

The Wonewoc post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1878.

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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.