Founding year: the first Wilson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Wilson’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wilson is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wilson’s overall grade.
Wyoming towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wyoming town has 25.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Wilson’s 108 sits above most of its state (88% of Wyoming towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.1 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 Wilson’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 Wilson yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Wilson is a census-designated place (CDP) in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2020 census, up from 1,482 in 2010. It is part of the Jackson, WY–ID Micropolitan Statistical Area. Wilson was pioneered in 1889 by Elijah Nicholas Wilson, known for having lived with the Shoshone Indians as a boy in the 1850s. His book, The White Indian Boy, describes his experiences, including his time as a rider for the Pony Express. The town was later named in his honor. It sits at the base of Teton Pass, just northwest of Jackson on State Highway 22.
Its first post office opened in 1898. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,482 to 1,567 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
The Wilson post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Wilson rank for history?
Wilson is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. 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 Wilson?
Two places: the Hardeman Barns (listed 2015) and the Wilson Commercial Historic District (2025).
How old are the homes in Wilson?
11% of Wilson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wyoming town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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