Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Dr. Charles M. Wright House. Its Register listing is the Dr. Charles M. Wright House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
The Altamont post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1872.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Altamont is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Altamont’s 21.9 sits above most of its state (87% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
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 Altamont’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1893Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Altamont.
On August 8, 1872, Altamont adopted the village form of government, with a mayor and four council members. On April 16, 1901, the voters adopted a city form of government and became the City of Altamont.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Altamont, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A post office had been established at a little place called Montville, a mile or so south of Altamont, on the National road, but never amounted to anything as a town, and whou Altamont was laid out (in 1870), the post office was moved to the new place, and in 1871 the name was changed to Altamont. G.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ty, in the fall of 1867, and closed out the mercantile interest as soon as expedient. He served as surveyor for a term of two years and laid out the town of Altamont in July, 1870, and took charge of the agency of Vandalia, and was the first agent of that road; also of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad and the Wabash Railroad. He then traveled as Lost
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Altamont. 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 Altamont.
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 Altamont’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 654 and 2,389 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Altamont’s Wikipedia page.
Altamont’s post office has been open since 1870.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Altamont post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1872.
Altamont is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
One place: the Dr. Charles M. Wright House (listed 1986).
28% of Altamont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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