Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #231 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Appellate Court, 5th District. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1860.
Mount Vernon dates its founding to 1817 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Vernon is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #231 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Mount Vernon’s 0.7 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1889Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1987Burlington Northern BN 2229 (GP30)
1987Burlington Northern BN 6599 (SD45)
1987Burlington Northern BN 6675 (SD45)
1987Chessie System Baltimore & Ohio B&O 6512 (GP40)
1987Flatcar with Locomotive Frame
1988Baltimore & Ohio B&O 6901 (GP30)
1988Burlington Northern BN 2045 (GP20)
1988Burlington Northern BN 2247 (GP30)
1988CSX 1010 (slug)
1988CSX 2518 (GP38-2)
1988CSX 5736 (U36B)
1988Chessie System Baltimore & Ohio B&O 6970 (GP30)
1988Southern Pacific SP 1306 (NW2)
1988Southern Pacific SP 1313 (NW2)Mount Vernon’s post office has been open since 1829. Another post office, Jefferson Courthouse, 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Vernon.
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, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Municipal Government. — The effort to incorporate Mount Vernon was made in 1837. At that time the statute required a population of 150 to entitle towns to be incorporated, 80 an act was passed to enable Mount Vernon, Mount Salem and Carlyle to incorporate without the requisite population under the general law. But the records of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
long, tedious delays. As a farming district, the settlements in what is now Blissville Township were of slow growth; the village of Mount Vernon, some ten miles distant, seemed to absorb the floating population. Here and there the smoke curled upward in the air from the scattered log cabins, and the busy pioneer protracted the day long into the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the second story, and in the attic, are numerous chambers furnished by the Mount Vernon Association with antique articles and revolutionary relics, and mostly named after different states. The one known as “ Lafayette’s room,” at the head of the first landing, was always occupied by the gallant Frenchman whenever he passed a night at Mount Vernon. The only original piece of furniture it now contains is the bureau, but it has been reproduced nearly as it was when he used it. Near this room is the one occupied by Miss
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltAppellate Court, 5th District is built
In the archiveMount Vernon, Jefferson County, Illinois 1881
In the archiveFrom President Roosevelt's special train - looking over the cheering crowds at Mount Vern…
Born hereAlbert Watson II is born here
Born hereWalt Kirk is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyIn the archiveBurlington Northern BN 2229 (GP30)
In the archiveBurlington Northern BN 1673 (GP7)Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Vernon. 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.
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’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’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1860 counted 707 people here.
Mount Vernon is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #231 of 768 in Illinois. 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.
One place: the Appellate Court, 5th District (listed 1973).
16% of Mount Vernon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 Wikimedia Commons (16), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
