Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 1850.
Marine dates its founding to 1834 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.
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 Marine’s history is told.
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 SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Marine.
The village of Marine, originally referred to as Marinetown, was settled in 1834 by George W. Welsh, James Semple, Jordan W. Jeffress, and Abram "Abraham" Breath, who were sailors. The sound of the prairie grass blowing in the fields had reminded them of the sea, hence the name Marine. It was incorporated as a village in 1867 and reincorporated in 1888.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Marine, cut from the printed page as they were published.
TuUy, John A. Williams, Jacob Creath and John Sweeney, Sr. In the year 1871, with a view to convenience and a wider field of usefulness, a meeting-house was built in the town of Marine, at a cost of §2,500. The dedication took place on the 3d Lord's day in December, 1871. St. Clair ilcKean, E J. Jeffress, P. S Weidman, J. W. Boosinger and' David Crandall were chosen trustees. The following named preachers have served the congregation since its
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Situated on the contemplated site of the town of Madison, is the beautiful little village of Marine, with its fine public park handsome church edifices and fine public school building. The town is well built, the private residences are handsome, while their surroundings are of the most pleasing character, bespeaking the wealth, taste and thrift of an intelligent and refined people. The town was laid out in 1834, on sections sixteen, seventeen, twenty and twenty-one, by George W-
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.
Weddings 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 Marine. 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 Marine.
Between 126 and 972 people in every census since 1850.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Marine’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1834, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Marine’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1850 counted 126 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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 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.
