Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
The Hopkins Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Como (1840), Empire (1851) and Hopkins (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hopkins Township is more historic than 43% 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 Hopkins 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: 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.
Four other post offices 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hopkins Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hopkins Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hopkins Township is located in Whiteside County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,156 and it contained 904 housing units.
Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,156 to 1,978 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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 Hopkins Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Hopkins Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Hopkins Township is more historic than 43% 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.
23% of Hopkins Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 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.
