Polk County, Wisconsin
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 14 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1978. Most listings are in or near St. Croix Falls, Osceola, Balsam Lake.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for Wisconsin is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Polk titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP6 of 14 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
14 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Cushing Land Agency Building | St. Croix Falls | 2005 |
| Dalles Bluff Site | St. Croix Falls | 1981 |
| First Baptist Church | Osceola | 2008 |
| Frederic Depot | Frederic | 2003 |
| Geiger Building-Old Polk County Courthouse | Osceola | 1985 |
| Heald, Alvah A., House | Osceola | 1985 |
| Lamar Community Center | St. Croix Falls | 1982 |
| Lindstrom, John, Round Barn | Balsam Lake | 2016 |
| Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Saint Marie Railway Depot | Osceola | 2000 |
| Osceola Commercial Historic District | Osceola | 2000 |
| Polk County Courthouse | Balsam Lake | 1982 |
| Seven Pines Lodge | Lewis | 1978 |
| St. Croix Falls Auditorium | St. Croix Falls | 2007 |
| Thompson, Thomas Henry, House | St. Croix Falls | 1984 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBPolk was formed in 1853 (1853-03-14) from St.
POLK created from ST. CROIX.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusPolk County population from 1860 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,400 | 10,018 | 17,801 | 26,870 | 26,197 | 24,944 | 24,968 | 32,351 | 41,319 | 44,977 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| SACN | Park unit | 38.8 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS33 cemeteries and 0 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 33 of 33 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Apple River Cemetery |
| Balsam Lake Cemetery |
| Clayton Cemetery |
| El Salem Cemetery |
| Elim Cemetery |
| Fristad Cemetery |
| Georgetown Cemetery |
| Granum Cemetery |
| Haustrup Cemetery |
| Johnstown Cemetery |
| Lawson Cemetery |
| Lewis Cemetery |
| Lincoln Cemetery |
| Long Lake Cemetery |
| Lorain Cemetery |
| McAskill Cemetery |
| Mount Hope Cemetery |
| New Home Cemetery |
| North Valley Cemetery |
| Oak Grove Cemetery |
| Old Settlers Cemetery |
| Pleasant Hill Cemetery |
| Pleasant Prairie Cemetery |
| Ramsey Cemetery |
| Saint Croix Falls Cemetery |
| Saint John Cemetery |
| Saint Marys Cemetery |
| Saint Peters Lutheran Cemetery |
| Sand Lake Cemetery |
| Travelers Rest Cemetery |
| Union Cemetery |
| Wagon Landing Cemetery |
| West Clayton Cemetery |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Polk County, Wisconsin
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