Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.
Germantown dates its founding to 1833 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 67% 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 is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 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’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’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Germantown. 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.
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 Survey
Born hereRed Schoendienst is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Germantown.
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.
Fire 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.
1894Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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’s Wikipedia page.
In 1833, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Germantown’s post office opened in 1846, and the census of 1880 counted 493 people here.
Germantown is more historic than 67% 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.
25% of Germantown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.
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, 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
