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History · Cecil

Cecil’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold just one old photo of Cecil. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1old images & papers
6recent photos
Sunset on Shawano Lake, 1910 · Library of Congress

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

The village was named after a railroad man, Cecil Leavitt when the railroad was finished in 1884.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

built from the dates on the items below
1910Sunset on Shawano LakeLOC
1920–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
Be one of the first

Start Cecil’s collection

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

1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewSunset on Shawano Lake, 1910: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from CecilWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Cecil.Meet them →
By decade

Cecil, decade by decade

1910s1 item
Sunset on Shawano LakeLOCSunset on Shawano Lake1910
1920s–
1990s
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
Today6 photos
Cecil Wisconsin signCommonsCecil Wisconsin sign2022CecilWisconsinVillageSignCommonsCecilWisconsinVillageSign2009CecilWisconsinSignCommonsCecilWisconsinSign2007CecilWisconsinCommonsCecilWisconsin2007MobilSignHistoricCommonsMobilSignHistoric2006Cecil WisconsinCommonsCecil Wisconsin2006
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Cecil is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Cecil has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Lincoln School in Shawano, 8.1 miles away.

Cecil and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Cecil. Tap a dot.
Lincoln SchoolShawano Main Street Historic DistrictShawano Post OfficeCitizens State Bank of GillettLaney SchoolFranciscan Publishers Building

Closest to Cecil

Lincoln SchoolShawano · Built 19258.1miShawano Main Street Historic DistrictShawano · District8.1miShawano Post OfficeShawano · Modern Movement · Built 19388.2miCitizens State Bank of GillettGillett · Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 19048.9miLaney SchoolMaple Grove · Building13.9mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Lincoln School’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Cecil?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Cecil’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Sunset on Shawano Lake (1910) and it appears here side by side.

🔁 Retake this view · +15

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Washington📜 Bonduel📜 Wescott📜 Green Valley

From Wikimedia Commons (6) and the Library of Congress (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

The coffee’s on

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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