Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1910.
The Divernon post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Divernon is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Divernon’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Divernon’s history is told.
Peaked at 2,382 in 1920; 1,139 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Divernon’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Divernon. 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 Divernon.
From Wikipedia’s history of Divernon.
A post office has been in operation at Divernon since 1887. The village took its name after Di Vernon, a character in the novel Rob Roy. A history of the village's first 75 years was compiled in 1975, titled "Village of Divernon Diamond Jubilee Memory Book."
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Divernon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
and in the latter year moved to Bates County, Mo., where he was engaged for twenty years in farming and dealing in stock. In September, 1888, he returned to Divernon Township, and in 1892 moved to Montgomery County, where he carried on farming until 1908, then again re turned to Divernon Township and lives with his daughter, Mrs. Lizzie Elswick. She owns 120
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the public schools of Ball .Township, lived at home until he was twenty-one years old, and worked hard on his father’s farm. He then moved to land on which the town of Divernon
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1914Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Divernon’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Divernon’s post office has been open since 1887.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Divernon post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Divernon is more historic than 45% 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.
24% of Divernon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (5), 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.
Date?
2026
2026
2007