Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #183 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Louisville and Nashville Depot. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
Nashville dates its founding to 1830 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nashville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #183 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 Nashville’s 3.4 sits above most of its state (71% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Nashville’s history is told.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions 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.
Born hereWilliam Neville is born here
Born hereHarry Blackmun is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveGRACE METHODIST CHURCH IN
Born hereRoyce Newman is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Nashville.
Nashville was originally called New Nashville; under the latter name, it was laid out in 1830. The local post office was established as Nashville in 1831.
On July 16, 2024, approximately 200 residents were evacuated because the failure of the Nashville Dam was considered imminent after the region received 5 inches of rain in 6 hours.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nashville. 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 Nashville.
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 Nashville’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 872 and 3,258 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Nashville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Nashville’s post office has been open since 1831.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1830, according to Wikidata. Nashville’s post office opened in 1831, and the census of 1860 counted 872 people here.
Nashville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #183 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 Louisville and Nashville Depot (listed 1985).
19% of Nashville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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