Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #482 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Antioch was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1880.
Antioch dates its founding to 1830 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Antioch is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #482 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Antioch’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Antioch’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Antioch. 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 Antioch.
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 Survey
Born hereFred Hawkins is born here
Born hereDale Barnstable is born here
In the archiveBusiness District, King's Drug Store, The Rexall Store, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (sign) (NB…
Born hereJohn Alexander Thain is born here
Born hereKyle Rittenhouse is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Antioch.
The Pottawatomi Tribe historically inhabited in the area of present-day Antioch prior to European settlement. The tribe was pushed to the west by European/American encroachment in the 1830s although remnants can still be found today.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1915Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Antioch’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 134 people in 1880 to 14,622 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Antioch’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Antioch’s post office has been open since 1845.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1830, according to Wikidata. Antioch’s post office opened in 1845, and the census of 1880 counted 134 people here.
Antioch is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #482 of 768 in Illinois. 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.
4% of Antioch’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (5), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2025
2015
2011
2005