History · Chilton

Chilton’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

1845established
1old images & papers
5recent photos
Home coming, Calumet Co. boys, Chilton, Wis., Sept. 20, 1919, 1919 · Wikimedia Commons

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

The first residents of Chilton were African-American former slave Moses Stanton and his Native-American wife, Catherine, who arrived in January 1845. The city formed around his saw mill and a grist mill a few years later.

The village was originally called Stantonville. John Marygold bought the place in 1852 and, according to legend, called it "Chilington," referring to Chillington Hall in England. He sent a verbal message to have the name change recorded in Stockbridge, then the county seat. Because the middle ing in the name was accidentally omitted, the municipality was recorded as Chilton.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

built from the dates on the items below
1845Established
1919Home coming, Calumet Co. boys, Chilton, Wis., S…Commons
1920–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
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Start Chilton’s collection

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

1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewHome coming, Calumet Co. boys, Ch…, 1919: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
By decade

Chilton, decade by decade

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.
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Then & now

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Home coming, Calumet Co. boys, Chilton, Wis., Sept. 20, 1919 (1919) and it appears here side by side.

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Stories next door

nearby towns’ history

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

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Chilton

Wisconsin · WI · Calumet County
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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01