Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1950.
The Randall post office opened in 1863, 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 Randall’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Randall.
A post office called Randall has been in operation since 1863. The city was named for Samuel J. Randall, a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Randall, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Grove. Outside of his business interests Mr. Peterson's tastes incline toward the musical art. He was one of the organizers of the Riverside Cornet Band of Randall, which was founded in 1879 and in which organization he has taken a deep interest until it was, disbanded. For nine years Mr. Peterson was an active member of this band, in which he played an E-fiat alto, and his virtuosity upon this instrument was perfected to a remarkable degree.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Randall. 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 Randall.
Between 148 and 202 people in every census since 1950.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Randall’s Wikipedia page.
The Randall post office opened in 1863, 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 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.
