Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1980.
The Gillett Grove post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Gillett's Grove (1869) and Gillett (1883), 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 Gillett Grove’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gillett Grove.
Gillett Grove was laid out in 1899 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city was named for brothers George and Isaiah Gillett, pioneer settlers.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Gillett Grove’s post office has been open since 1892. 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).
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 Gillett Grove. 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 Gillett Grove.
Between 30 and 93 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gillett Grove’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Gillett Grove itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Gillett Grove post office opened in 1892, 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 (2), 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.
2021
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