Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Roe was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1970.
The Roe post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roe’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Roe.
Roe began as a railroad depot around 1880 on the Cotton Belt (officially the St. Louis Southwestern Railway). Originally located in Prairie County, a boundary adjustment in 1883 placed it in Monroe County. The small community saw new growth when U.S. Route 79 was constructed through the town in 1935. Roe was incorporated as a town in 1968.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Roe. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Roe.
Between 68 and 136 people in every census since 1970.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Roe’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Roe itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Roe post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
2005
