Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1900.
The Kiron post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1899.
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 Kiron’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Kiron.
Kiron was platted in 1899. It was supposedly named after a place in China.
Another popular etymology theory is that the town was named after the Kidron Valley, in the Bible, but due to a typographical error, the D had been omitted.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Kiron, cut from the printed page as they were published.
fate to the slow steady beasts who were drawing his sled. At last they came to the creek on his land and when they crossed the bridge he thought the oxen would turn homeward, but, as cattle are prone to do, they went in the path of the storm, drifting out into a cornfield where the Bank of Kiron now stands. Numbed with the cold and almost exhausted, Mr. Ericksen's senses were vet sufficiently alert for him to realize he was lost. Stopping his team, he endeavored to locate himself, realizing if he any longer depended upon the oxen his fate would be similar to that of many another settler in those days. At last
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 Kiron. 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 Kiron.
Between 89 and 317 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kiron’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Kiron itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Kiron’s post office has been open since 1872.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Kiron post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1899.
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 (3), 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.
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