Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1982 on, and the census since 1880.
The De Soto post office opened in 1868, 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 De Soto’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of De Soto.
De Soto got its start in the year 1868, following construction of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad through the territory. De Soto is the name of a railroad official.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention De Soto, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of De Soto was incorporated nearly four years ago. The petition for incorporation was heard before Judge Mitchell, and granted May 24, 1875, and was filed for record January 1, 1875. J. S. DeMotte, 0. C.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The iron bridge at Yan Meter's mill on the Adel and De Soto road is 220 feet long, and is also a model bridge of its kind. This township has two fine bridges, built by the county, one spanning the main Raccoon river at the town of Yan Meter, and the other across the South Raccoon at H. G. Yan Meter's mill, near the west line of the township.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of De Soto.
1982Adel sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of De Soto.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on De Soto’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 261 and 1,050 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on De Soto’s Wikipedia page.
De Soto’s post office has been open since 1868.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The De Soto post office opened in 1868, 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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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