Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1910.
The Atalissa post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Powasheek (1841) and Overman's Ferry (1844), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Atalissa was named by its founder, William Lundy, for a mining town in California, which in turn was named for an Indian queen Atalissa.
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 Atalissa’s history is told.
Atalissa’s post office has been open since 1856. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Atalissa.
Atalissa was platted in 1859. It was named by its founder, William Lundy, for a mining town in California, which in turn was named for an Indian queen Atalissa.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Atalissa, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Charles H. Lamb was reared in the little town of Atalissa. He gained the rudiments of education in the Atalissa high school but has greatly added to what he there learned, having since arriving at mature years been a close observer and a reader of good literature. After leaving school he learned telegraphy and for twenty-five years was connected with the telegraph department of the Rock Island Railway Company, performing his duties in such a way as to meet the hearty approval of the officers of the road. In 1900 he purchased a farm in Goshen township, upon which he lived for seven years, when he dis-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
turns. In 1908 he returned to Atalissa, where lie now maintains a wagon-making and general repair shop. He is the owner of a tine business building in Atalissa, a commodious residence and a block of ground, being recognized as one of the prosperous citizens of the community.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Atalissa is located in the northeastern portion of Goshen Township, in Section 11, on the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, surrounded by a rich and beautiful farming country. The eighty acres which the town lots occupy were owned among other land by William Lundy, who came to what is now Goshen Township in 1847. By contract, John P. Cook, of the firm of Cook & Sargent, of Davenport, became partner in the undivided half of this property, Avith the intention of laying it out into town lots. The lots were surveyed by Peter Houtz and the town plat filed for record by John P.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Atalissa. 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 Atalissa.
Between 181 and 360 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Atalissa’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Atalissa itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Atalissa post office opened in 1856, 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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2021
2016
2008
2004
