Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #646 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Forsyth was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1880.
Forsyth dates its founding to 1854 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forsyth is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #646 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Forsyth’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: Wikipedia (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 Forsyth’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Forsyth.
The village was established around 1854 with the arrival of the Illinois Central Railroad in Macon County. The village is named in honor of Colonel Robert Forsyth, the first general freight agent for the Illinois Central Railroad.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Forsyth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The railroad put down a sidetrack and built a section house in Section 14, naming the stop later as Forsyth, after Robert Forsyth, owner of the land and general freight agent for the road. The village of Forsyth was laid out in 1864 by Edward O. Smith. First houses were erected by N. J. Fitch, George Shaffer, Dr. Baxter, Gordon Songer and James Fenner. N. J. Fitch became postmaster, dealt in grain and also had a grocery store. George Shaffer also was a grocer.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Forsyth was named for Colonel Robert Forsyth, the first general freight agent of the Illinois Central, who bought land and built a home there.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Forsyth. 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 Forsyth.
Grew from 152 people in 1880 to 3,734 in 2020, more than tenfold.
8 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Forsyth’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Forsyth itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Forsyth’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Forsythe, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Forsyth’s post office opened in 1865, and the census of 1880 counted 152 people here.
Forsyth is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #646 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.
3% of Forsyth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
