Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1880.
The Hollowayville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Hollowayville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hollowayville. 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 Hollowayville.
Peaked at 207 in 1900; 36 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hollowayville’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hollowayville.
Just west of Hollowayville is St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church that was established in 1849 by German immigrants.
Hollowayville is one of the oldest villages in Bureau County. It was the former site of a coal mine Hollowayville boasts one of the state's lowest sales tax rates.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Hollowayville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Hollowayville had its own post office from 1852 to 1924.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Hollowayville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
