Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #164 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Beardstown Grand Opera House. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1870.
Beardstown dates its founding to 1819 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beardstown is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #164 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Beardstown’s 1.6 sits above most of its state (65% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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.
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.
1887Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions 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.
In the archiveAbraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - crop r A1Xvo HD
Born hereAndrew C. McLaughlin is born here
Born hereEddie Lyons is born here
In the archiveA Scene on the Sangamon, near Lincoln's Old Home, Illinois
Born hereRed Norvo is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereStanley J. Korsmeyer is born hereWriters, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
From Wikipedia’s history of Beardstown.
Beardstown was first settled by Thomas Beard in 1819; he erected a log cabin at the edge of the Illinois River, from which he traded with the local Native Americans and ran a ferry. The town was laid out in 1827 and was incorporated as a city in 1896. During the Black Hawk War in 1832, it was a base of supplies for the Illinois troops.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Beardstown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the Illinois River Railroad came through from Pekin to the county. He also desired very much to have railroad connection with the river traffic at Beardstown, and readily joined with others in three different attempts through incorporated companies to build a line of railroad from Beardstown along the Sangamon bottom to Chandlerville, and some point berond, but it
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The original town of Beardstown was platted and laid out in September, 1829. The certificate bears date of September 9, 1829, and was recorded the same day, and states that the plat is on the north fractional half of section 1, township 18, north, range 12. west. in Morgan County, Dll. The original town contained 175 lots lying adjacent to the river, extending south-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the same year, 1849, Beardstown was incorporated as a city, with the same charter as those of Springfield and Quincy. In this year also occurred the third election for location of the county seat, which was decided in favor of Beardstown. Another election was had in 1857, and another in 1868, for the same purpose, but the county seat still
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the same year, 1849, Beardstown was incorporated as a city, with the same charter as those of Springfield and Quincy. In this 3-ear also occun-ed the third election for location of the County Seat, which was decided in favor of Beardstown. Another election was had in 1857, and another in 1868, for the same purpose, but the County Seat still remained at Beardstown. Another election was held in 1S72, under the Constitution of 1870, and a new general statute governing re-location of county seats. The history of this
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beardstown. 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 Beardstown.
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 Beardstown’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 2,528 and 7,111 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Beardstown’s Wikipedia page.
Beardstown’s post office has been open since 1831.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1819, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Beardstown’s post office opened in 1831, and the census of 1870 counted 2,528 people here.
Beardstown is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #164 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.
One place: the Beardstown Grand Opera House (listed 2000).
23% of Beardstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1962.
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), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, 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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