Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1880.
The Fremont post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Big Grove (1848), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
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 Fremont’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fremont.
In 1871, Fremont stretched for 8 blocks, 1/2 mile (under 1 km) along Main Street, with at least one house on every block on the north side of the street and a few houses on Washington Street, one block north. There was a Baptist church, a hotel, three stores, a barber shop and a school. The town also had a physician, a blacksmith and a shoemaker.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Fremont, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In pursuance of a decree issued from the circuit court of Fremont county, Iowa, at the April term of 1870, notice is hereby given that there will be a meeting of the qualified electors of the territory as described and platted, will be held at the court house in Sidney on Saturday, the 7th day of May, 1870, to vote on a proposition to incorporate s aid territory as the city of Sidney. The limits of said incorporation to embrace an area of one mile square as follows, to wit: Commencing at the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section twenty-six, township sixty-nine, range forty-two; thence south
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
“ Tb G. B. Gaston, J. L. Smith, John Todd, S. H. Adams, M L. Carpenter: “ Gentlemen : You are hereby appointed commissioners for the purpose of holding an election in the village of Tabor, Fremont county, Iowa, for the purpose of voting for incorporation, for or against incorporating the village of Tabor; and report your doings in the matter to this court.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fremont. 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 Fremont.
Between 143 and 743 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fremont’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Fremont’s post office has been open since 1849. Another post office, Big Grove, 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).
The Fremont post office opened in 1849, 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, 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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