Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1900.
The Carbon Hill post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Carbon Hill’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1940, then more than doubled.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Carbon Hill’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Carbon Hill. 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 Carbon Hill.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Carbon Hill yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Carbon Hill is a village in Grundy County, Illinois, United States. The population was 372 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 345 to 372 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Carbon Hill, cut from the printed page as they were published.
his return. Immediately after their marriage they returned to Coal City, and Mr. Veronda again entered the mines. In 1S91, when the village of Carbon Hill was established, he moved to this point, where he has since resided with bis family. He was chosen as Carbon Hill's second postmaster in 1S97, and has acted in this capacity to the present time, has served one
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Carbon Hill itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Carbon Hill had its own post office from 1892 to 1921.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Carbon Hill post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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.
