Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1924 on, and the census since 1870.
Detroit dates its founding to 1837 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
From Wikipedia’s history of Detroit.
Detroit was laid out in 1837, taking its name after Detroit, Michigan. A post office was established at Detroit in 1845, and remained in operation until the 1970s.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereGeorge A. Neeley is born here
In the archivePlat book of Pike County, Illinois
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveDESERTED HOUSEPassages that mention Detroit, cut from the printed page as they were published.
"The next settlements to those already mentioned were along the bluft'near Chainbersburg and a few in the neighborhood of Detroit. The first settlers were poor, honest and brave, always kind to
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Is'eeley is a farmer; also proprietor of the Detroit House in Detroit; he spent about IS years of his life in Texas, Mexico and the Southern States, and while there served three years in the Confederate army. He is now Justice of the Peace for Detroit tp.
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 1890s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Detroit. 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 Detroit.
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 Detroit’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 76 and 168 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Detroit’s Wikipedia page.
Detroit had its own post office from 1845 to 1974.
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 1837, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Detroit’s post office opened in 1845, and the census of 1870 counted 160 people here.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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 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.
1973
1973
1973
2016