Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #441 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Davis Junction was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Its Register listing is the Village of Davis Junction Town Hall. Below: maps from 1917 on and the census since 1980.
The Davis Junction post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Davis Junction is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #441 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold 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 Davis Junction’s 3.6 sits above most of its state (72% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Davis Junction’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Davis Junction. 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 Davis Junction.
From Wikipedia’s history of Davis Junction.
Jeremiah Davis laid out Davis Junction in the 1870s, and named the settlement for himself. A post office has been in operation at Davis Junction since 1875.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
The 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.
Grew from 289 people in 1980 to 2,512 in 2020, 8 times over.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Davis Junction’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Davis Junction itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Davis Junction’s post office has been open since 1875.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Davis Junction post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Davis Junction is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #441 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 Village of Davis Junction Town Hall (listed 2008).
7% of Davis Junction’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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