Folsom, Wisconsin
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1924 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Franklin town. It lies in ZIP code area 54655. The Survey maps it on the Readstown quadrangle. It stands 1,178 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 10 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1924 USGS Gays Mills quadrangle1:62500
- 1926 USGS Gays Mills quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Gays Mills quadrangle1:62500
- 1976 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Readstown quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Richland Center quadrangle1:100000
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Franklin town. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.
Early Settlement
To John McCullougli is ascribed the honor of having made the first actual settlement in the town of Franklin. He came in 1844 and afterward entered land and did some breaking. The next spring he brought his family on. His claim was on section 25 of township 12, range west. In 1852 he, with a number of others, went to California, remained a year in the gold region, and wrote to his brother that he was about to return, but he was never afterward heard of, and it is supposed he perished on the plains.
In the county-history sources
7,303 words on this townshipHistory of Vernon County, Wisconsin .., published 1884 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.
The chapter on Franklin Town covers the township.
Read the chapter on Franklin Town - 7,303 words.
Fires near this place
27 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Folsom between 1997 and 2020, burning about 108 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | HWY 61 FIRE |
| 24 July 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | B AND C FIRE |
| 8 May 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2020011 |
| 13 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 20079 |
| 1 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2018013 |
| 8 April 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1.2 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | HESTETUNE MESH FIRE |
| 8 April 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.6 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 April 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Folsom: 2 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cain Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Ellefson Brothers Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Liberty Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Roaring Forty Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
4 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Folsom in 4 storm reports between 2008 and 2024: 3 flash flood, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2018 | Flash Flood | Folsom | $750,000 | Runoff from heavy rain caused flash flooding to occur across portions of Vernon County. Several roads were under water around Readstown including County Highway M. In Ontario, evacuations were performed and several roads were closed including County Highways F and P. |
| June 2024 | Flash Flood | Folsom | $15,000 | Law enforcement relayed reports of road closures due to water and debris over roads. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | Folsom | $10,000 | Runoff from heavy rains caused several roads to be damaged by water and mud slides. |
| May 2008 | Hail | Folsom | - | The public estimated nickel size hail one mile north of Folsom. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Readstown | 4.3 miles | 10 | |
| Brookville | 5.0 miles | 14 | |
| Liberty Pole | 5.2 miles | 10 | |
| Fargo | 6.4 miles | 10 | |
| Liberty | 7.7 miles | 12 | |
| Sugar Grove | 8.2 miles | 10 | |
| Ross | 8.4 miles | 14 | |
| Viroqua | 8.6 miles | 14 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Folsom | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5464844 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1577602. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.








