Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #472 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1870.
The Heyworth post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Heyworth is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #472 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Heyworth’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: 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 Heyworth’s history is told.
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.
1908Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Heyworth.
Heyworth was laid out by Campbell Wakefield on September 11, 1859. Before settlement, the locality now known as Heyworth was covered by a heavy growth of timber and underbrush which was inhabited by the Kickapoo Native Americans, and supported a great number of deer, wild turkeys, and packs of large gray wolves.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Heyworth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
There were several grist mills on Kickapoo near Heyworth. The first large mill was put up in Heyworth in 1857, by Coursin & Wilson. It was situated west of the railroad and south of Main Street, near the place where the lumber yard is now located. Some time later, the engine exploded and killed the engineer. The mill burned in 1860. Alex Wilson came to Heyworth in 1857, and built the first good dwelling
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Light and Power In the early years of the present century, the Heyworth Electric Light Company was founded in Heyworth. The plant was located here and was owned by the town. Lynn Pumphrey was the manager.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The schools of the village of Heyworth had a crude beginning, for the first schoolhouse was a single room log cabin, with puncheon floor and hewed logs for benches. Thomas Dunham was the first teacher, and he was followed by Mary Elder, William Leeper, J. W. Burrows and others.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
a church since 1867, and in 1907 the present building was erected. John R. Golden formed a congregation at Cooksville in 1902, succeeding the Blue Mound Church. Ellsworth Church succeeded the Old Town Church in 1867, and Heyworth Church was organized in 1872. In 1906 the present modern building was erected in Heyworth. A Christian Church has been at Holder since 1877, and at Hudson since 1877. Leroy Church was formed in 1888 by T. T. Holton, and a fine church erected in 1907. Lexington
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Heyworth. 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 Heyworth.
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 Heyworth’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 300 and 2,841 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Heyworth’s Wikipedia page.
The Heyworth post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Heyworth is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #472 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.
19% of Heyworth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (3), 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, 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.
2006
