Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1880.
The Fairview post office opened in 1838, 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 Fairview’s history is told.
Peaked at 601 in 1970; 426 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairview’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairview. 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 Fairview.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fairview yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fairview is a village in Fulton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 426 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1838. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 522 to 426 (-18%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Fairview, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Edward Cox, sr., is among the first settlers of Fulton Co. He erected the tiiird frame house in the town of Fairview, and he thinks the third in the township. When he came to the county only one family lived within the present corporation of Fairview. This man's name was Henry B. Evans, and he owned the first grocery store in the township. The building is still standing and used as a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Accordingly in the year 1837 they laid out the original town of Fairview, which was added to ujion the west by Peter Pumyea and Richard Davis. Jonas Rawalt did the surveying. The town was first called Utica, but as there was already a town by that name in the county, its name was changed to Fairview. The survey of the town was made by Jonas Rawalt, who now resides in Orion 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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFire 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.
1919Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn 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 Fairview’s page.
Retake this view · +15Fairview’s post office has been open since 1838.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Fairview post office opened in 1838, 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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.
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