The story
Read it all →How Yorkville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Yorkville.
The town was founded primarily by farmers immigrating from Cornwall, England.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
How Yorkville began
When was Yorkville founded?
1840
The Yorkville post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ives Grove (1839) and Sylvania (1846), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 3,291 in 20002020 census: 3,246186 years
How historic is Yorkville?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Yorkville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Yorkville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yorkville is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #121 of 362 in Wisconsin. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Yorkville’s overall grade.
Founding era1840, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194012.6% of homes (±5.0) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 3.1 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 70%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 67%
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Yorkville’s 3.1 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Yorkville’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 Yorkville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1971. Watch Yorkville change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Yorkville, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Yorkville.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Yorkville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Yorkville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Yorkville on the map, 1893 to 1971
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Yorkville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1893Silver Lake sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Yorkville.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Yorkville had its own post office from 1840 to 1903. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ives Grove
Yorkville
Sylvania
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Harvest View EstatesIves GroveSylvania
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Yorkville
SylvaniaUnion Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Yorkville, 1839 to 1983
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1839Post officeThe Ives Grove post office opens
- 1840Post officeThe Yorkville post office opens
- 1846Post officeThe Sylvania post office opens
- 1885
BuiltYorkville #4 School is built - 1893
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1903Post officeThe Yorkville post office closes
- 1904Post officeThe Ives Grove post office closes
- 1904Post officeThe Sylvania post office closes
- 1983
Born hereEmmy Fink is born here
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.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the National Register
1 historic place in Yorkville
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
2011
Yorkville #4 School
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Late Victorian1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Yorkville, census by census
Between 3,071 and 3,291 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Yorkville’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Yorkville’s history
What year was Yorkville founded?
The Yorkville post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Yorkville rank for history?
Yorkville is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #121 of 362 in Wisconsin. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Yorkville?
One place: the Yorkville #4 School (listed 2011).
How old are the homes in Yorkville?
13% of Yorkville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1981.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikidata (1), 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) 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.