Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1933 on, and the census since 1860.
Mount Vernon Township dates its founding to 1817 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveMount Vernon, Jefferson County, Illinois 1881
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBurlington Northern BN 2229 (GP30)From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Vernon Township.
Mt. Vernon was founded in 1817 by Zadok Casey, who was elected to the State Senate in 1822 and was elected lieutenant governor in 1833. He served in the U.S. Congress between 1833 and 1843. The town was named for George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon, which was named for Edward Vernon, a British naval hero.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Mount Vernon Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Ala., and there William attended subscription school some. In 1825, the father again moved, this time to Jefferson County, and settled in Mount Vernon Township. He was one of the first settlers in that neighborhood, where he, however, remained only about three years, and then moved to Wolf's Prairie, McClellau Township, where he resided
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Vernon 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 Mount Vernon Township.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mount Vernon Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 707 and 17,193 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Vernon Township’s Wikipedia page.
Another post office, Idlewood, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1817, according to Wikidata. Mount Vernon Township’s post office opened in 1829, and the census of 1860 counted 707 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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, 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.
1987
1987
1987
