Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1918 on.
Hire Township was named Hire Township in 1857 after George Hire (1790-1881), who served in the Ohio Militia in the War of 1812, and was an Illinois State Legislator in 1856.
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 Hire Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hire Township.
Hire was formerly known as Rock Creek Township. It was named Hire Township in 1857 after George Hire (1790-1881), who served in the Ohio Militia in the War of 1812, and was an Illinois State Legislator in 1856.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 Hire 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 Hire Township.
Nobody well known was born in Hire Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Argyle, 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.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.
