The Wyalusing post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bradtville (1864), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 336175 years
Founding year: the first Wyalusing post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Wyalusing’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wyalusing yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Wyalusing is a town in Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 336 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Brodtville and Wyalusing are located in the town. Pioneer Robert Glenn, Sr. is credited with naming the village "Wyalusing" after Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, because of a perceived resemblance.
Its first post office opened in 1851. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 346 to 336 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Wyalusing, 1881–1900
Passages that mention Wyalusing, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 623Read the page →
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In the town of Wyalusing, on Sandy Creek, a saw-mill was built in 1846, known as Bushneirs or Whipple’s Mill. Marshall Key came from Lancaster at a later date and built Key’s Mill on Section 13.
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History of Grant County, Wisconsin1881 · page 869Read the page →
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The town name (Millville) originated from the number of mills that were built at an early day, and which have been referred to above. The town, as it was first organized in 1853, comprised, in addition to its present limits, a portion of the present town of Patch Grove, the upper half of the present town of Wyalusing and the whole of the present towns of Mount Hope and Woodman. In 1854, Wyalusing was set oflF from Millville and Patch Grove by the County Board of Supervisors. In 1859, still another change took place, and Millville then included Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, of Township 6, Range 4 west. In 1864, Mount Hope and
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[History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin1881 · page 869Read the page →
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The town name (Millville) originated from the number of mills that were built at an early day, and which have been referred to above. The town, as it was first organized in 1853, comprised, in addition to its present limits, a portion of the present town of Patch Grove, the upper half of the present town of Wyalusing and the whole of the present towns of Mount Hope and Woodman. In 1854, Wyalusing was set off" from Millville and Patch Grove by the County Board of Supervisors. In 1859, still another change took place, and Millville then included Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, of Township 6, Range 4 west. In 1864, Mount Hope and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 622Read the page →
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lage. Mr. Finn had quite an experience in beginning towns. He was the first settler on the sites of the villages of' Bloomington and Patch Grove, and laid out the latter town, and was interested in the town of New Cincinnati on the Mississippi, a few’ miles below Wyalusing. It was at first proposed to call it Wyoming, but Mr. Finn wanted something original, and the happy inspiration of Wyalusing as a name prevailed. There was a solitary abandoned cabin on the new town site, built by some unknown hands, when the town-makers
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
Wyalusing, 1851 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
