Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1880.
Germantown Township dates its founding to 1833 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Germantown Township is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. Its age 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 Germantown Township’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: Wikidata (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 Germantown Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Germantown Township. 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 Germantown Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Germantown Township.
The village of Germantown was established in 1833. Formerly known as "Hanover" for the city in Germany that was the hometown of the first settlers, Germantown is said to be one of the first true German settlements in Illinois.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Grew from 493 people in 1880 to 1,324 in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Germantown Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1833, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Germantown Township’s post office opened in 1846, and the census of 1880 counted 493 people here.
Germantown Township is more historic than 64% 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.
22% of Germantown Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1977.
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) 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.
