Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1933 on and the census since 1890.
The Basco post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1886.
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 Basco’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Basco yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Basco is a village in Bear Creek Township, Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 80 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1853. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 98 to 80 (-18%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Basco, cut from the printed page as they were published.
heavy rain all over the middle and sonthern portions of the county during the day, but the tornado proper began about three miles west of Basco, and held an easterly course towards Bentley, where it became less violent. It was, without doubt, accompanied by fire, as parties who were in it remember a sensation of heat, and some say, a smell of sulphur. Those who witnessed it from Basco, represent it as sublime and terrible : a smoky, blue-colored cloud, rolling forward at great speed, emitting flames at intervals, and
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.
Weddings 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 Basco. 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 Basco.
Between 80 and 327 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Basco’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Basco itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Basco post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1886.
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 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.
