Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Eddyville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1880.
Eddyville dates its founding to 1866 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Eddyville’s history is told.
Peaked at 212 in 1890; 99 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eddyville’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Eddyville.
Eddyville was laid out in 1866, and named for Edward Fulghum, who owned the land where the village is located. A post office has been in operation at Eddyville since 1869. Eddyville was incorporated as a village in 1883.
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.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Illinois - Pope County - ED 76-1, ED 76-2…
In the archivePhotograph of Black Walnut Plantation
In the archivePhotograph of Women's Clubs Cooperative Plantation at
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eddyville. 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 Eddyville.
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 Eddyville’s page.
Retake this view · +15In 1866, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Eddyville’s post office opened in 1869, and the census of 1880 counted 114 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 (4), 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.
2008
