Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1870.
The Ashland post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashland is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Ashland’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: 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 Ashland’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.
1894Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ashland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ashland is a village in Cass County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,218 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,333 to 1,218 (-9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Ashland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Ashland had been laid out but a few years, and a place of meeting was with some difficulty secured. The first meetings were hold in a store or store house, now owned by Austin Lewis. These were the first religious services held in the village of Ashland. In those first devotional Christian meetings, dedicating the embryo village with its business,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Ashland Catholic church was organized in 1871. and services were held in the schoolhouse. In a short time, however, a small building was erected, but the congregation grew so rapidly, that in 1880 lots were purchased in block 43 on west Main street, and plans begun for the erecfion of a new church and parsonage. The building was completed in 1882 and is a handsome
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.
Born herePaul Swan is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashland. 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 Ashland.
Between 203 and 1,361 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ashland’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Ashland post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Ashland is more historic than 43% 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.
22% of Ashland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (2), 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, 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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