Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 1900.
Leonore dates its founding to 1891 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.
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 Leonore’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Leonore.
Leonore was originally established as Gary in the late 1880s to serve as a station on the Illinois Valley & Northern Railroad. In 1889, the name of the station was changed as there was already a post office named Gary. Leonore was deemed the favorite of the suggested names. Leonore was incorporated as a village on April 20, 1891; this was certified on June 15, 1891.
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 Leonore. 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 Leonore.
Between 110 and 277 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Leonore’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Leonore itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1891, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Leonore’s post office opened in 1889, and the census of 1900 counted 277 people here.
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.
