Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1910.
The Hanlontown post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.
Hanlontown was named for the property owner, James Hanlon, and was incorporated on January 18, 1902.
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 Hanlontown’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hanlontown.
Hanlontown was founded on October 9, 1899, when a portion of the Chicago and North Western Railroad was built in the southwestern part of Worth County. It was named for the property owner, James Hanlon, and was incorporated on January 18, 1902.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 Hanlontown. 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 Hanlontown.
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 Hanlontown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 129 and 260 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hanlontown’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Hanlontown itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Hanlontown’s post office has been open since 1899.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Hanlontown post office opened in 1899, 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) 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.
Date?
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2021
2004