Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #35 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 31 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
The Fulton post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fulton is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #35 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Fulton’s 89.0 sits above most of its state (93% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 33 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% 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 Fulton’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fulton. 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 Fulton.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fulton.
A post office called Fulton has been in operation since 1838. The city was named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Fulton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
![hostility broke out among the packet-owners and others, and in 1821 the Legislature of Connecticut enacted a retaliatory law that no vessel bearing such a license [the monopoly of Fulton and Livingston] should enter any of the waters of that State." The Fulton and Connecticut were thus driven away …](https://images.townratings.com/story/4044/bk-392c392b24794f28-l.jpg)
hostility broke out among the packet-owners and others, and in 1821 the Legislature of Connecticut enacted a retaliatory law that no vessel bearing such a license [the monopoly of Fulton and Livingston] should enter any of the waters of that State." The Fulton and Connecticut were thus driven away and compelled to look elsewhere for occupation. The Fulton had been running be-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
It was a prosperous town in the days of ox carts and mule teams, but has mouldered away since the advent of railroads in Fulton county. ST. AUGUSTINE.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Fulton seemed to hesitate for a while, and at last said he would come. Fulton did come round, and took tea with father. Fulton told him about the paddle-wheel.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The city of Canton is situated at the junction of the Toledo, Peoria ct Warsaw and the Chicago, Burlington cV: (iuincy Railroads, and upon one of the most fertile jirairics to be found in our great Prairie State. It is the largest city of Fulton county and one of the most beautil'ul and prosperous of the State. As a live, wideawake business place, Canton has no su])erior and but few equals in Illinois. Combined with its busy aspect is the air of a city, — the culture, refinement and wealth so noticeable in larger centers. Indeed,
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.
2019Lock and Dam No. 13 is a lock and dam located on the …
2019Lock and Dam No. 13 is a lock and dam located on the …
2019Estuary and a breakwater adjacent to Lock and Dam No.…
2019Estuary and a breakwater adjacent to Lock and Dam No.…
2019Estuary breakwater adjacent to Lock and Dam No. 13 on…
2019An excellent example of the changes that time brings:…
2019The "de Immigrant" windmill on the flood-control dike
2019Adjoining buidings, one in--and one out--of business
2019Vintage Cadillac, parked on a street
2019Whimsical fisherman metal art
2019Whimsical fisherman metal art
2017Fulton, United States (Unsplash)
2016IL 136 through
2015Image Martin House
2015Image Downtown
2014Fulton Illinois
2011Clinton Iowa and
2007Fulton Township Whiteside
2006ILMap-doton-FultonFire 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 year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 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 Fulton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,512 and 3,936 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fulton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Fulton’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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Fulton post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Fulton is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #35 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.
Two places: the Fulton Commercial Historic District (listed 2012) and the Martin House (2014).
32% of Fulton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (12), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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