Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Francis E. Bryant House. Its Register listing is the Francis E. Bryant House. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
The Bement post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bement is more historic than 69% 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 Bement’s 5.6 sits above most of its state (76% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…
1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…
1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…
1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…
1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…
1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…
Date?HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY E.E. LUNDEEN, PHOT…
Date?HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY E.E. LUNDEEN, PHOT…
Date?HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY PRINT BY HAWKIN'S …
Date?HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY PRINT BY HAWKIN'S …
Date?Lincoln-Douglas Road Marker
Date?Bryant House, 146 Wilson StreetMost archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bement yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bement is a village in Piatt County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 1,484 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,730 to 1,484 (-14%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Bement, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the fall of 1867 Bement was formed into a station, and Rev. H. S. Tryon was put in charge. About this time a belfry was built on the church, and a $150 bell was purchased. In 1876 a commodious parsonage, worth $1,600, was erected for the use of the pastor.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. and Mrs. Force came to Bement in 1855-56, Mrs. Force reaching the place in January, 1856. In the spring of 1856, after boarding in Monticello for a time, they moved into the third house in Bement. About this time Joseph Alvord, who had been living for a time in the second house of! the town, moved into a house built on his farm, now owned by Mr. Martin. Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Yost came to Bement April 29, 1856. Mr. Yost built on the ground now owned by Mr. J. C. Evans, but ere a great while moved on to his farm north of
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.
In the archiveHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveN&W E8A 3815 with Train 121, the domeliner Blue Bird, at speed north of Bement, Illinois …Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bement. 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 Bement.
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 Bement’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 963 and 1,784 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bement’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Bement’s post office has been open since 1856.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Bement post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Bement is more historic than 69% 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 Francis E. Bryant House (listed 2017).
29% of Bement’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 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 (16), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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