Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the F. D. Thomas House. Its Register listing is the F. D. Thomas House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
Camp Point dates its founding to 1835 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Camp Point is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. 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 Camp Point’s 8.1 sits above most of its state (81% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Camp Point’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.
1893Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn 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.
Born herePinch Thomas is born here
In the archiveIllinois, Camp Point quadrangle : 15-minute series
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Camp Point.
Camp Point was founded in 1835 by Peter Garrett and was originally called Garrett's Mills. A school house was built here in 1836. Then a family named the Farlow started to build the town more.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Camp Point, cut from the printed page as they were published.
came from Quincy, and started a blacksmith shop near Garrett's mill. In 1854 G. M. Hess opened a store near the same place; the year after sold to Bailey & Seaton. Late in the winter of 1855 the C, B. & Q. railroad reached Camp Point from Quincy, which was the initial step toward the laying out of the town of Camp Point the same spring by Garrett, Booth, Farlow, and Bailey. Lewis McFarland was the first justice of the peace in the township, being elected in 1838, and continuously holding the same until 1858. lie also started the first tannery in the township. The Cam])
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.![came from Quinc}', and started a blacksmith sho]) near Garrett's mill. In 1854 G. M. Hess opened a store neai' the same jdace; the year after sold to Bailey & Seaton. Late in the winter of 185.5 the C, B. & Q. railroad reached Camp Point from Quincy, which was the initial step towai-il the laying o…](https://images.townratings.com/story/3853/bk-396a0dea364f1ca9-l.jpg)
came from Quinc}', and started a blacksmith sho]) near Garrett's mill. In 1854 G. M. Hess opened a store neai' the same jdace; the year after sold to Bailey & Seaton. Late in the winter of 185.5 the C, B. & Q. railroad reached Camp Point from Quincy, which was the initial step towai-il the laying out of the town of Camp Point the same spring by Garrett, Booth, Farlow, and Bailey. Lewis McFarland was the first justice of the ])eacc in the township, being elected in 1838, and continuously holding the same until 1858. He also started the first tannery in the township. The Camj)
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of Camp Point showed some indications of a future as early as 1847, when the mill, the blacksmith shop, the store and the postoffice were followed by the school-house erected in 1853, which was probably the best linislied and most comfortably arranged school-house in the county, and afforded sufficient facilities for school purposes for some two or three years, when, owing to the growth of the village, another school-house was demanded and was built in the west part of the village, which afforded school accommodations for a year or two more, when both houses became
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of Camp Point showed some indications of a future as early as 1847, when the mill, the blacksmith shop, the store and the postoffice were followed by the school-house erected in 1853, which was probably the best finished and most comfortably arranged school-house in the county, and afforded sufficient facilities for school purposes for some two or three years, when, owing to the growth of the village, another school-house was demanded and was built in the west part of the village, which afforded school accommodations for a year or two more, when both houses became
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Camp Point. 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 Camp Point.
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 Camp Point’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 969 and 1,285 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Camp Point’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1835, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Camp Point’s post office opened in 1848, and the census of 1880 counted 1,131 people here.
Camp Point is more historic than 90% 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 F. D. Thomas House (listed 1983).
35% of Camp Point’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1958.
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), 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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