Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1937 on and the census since 1880.
New Douglas dates its founding to 1860 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
New Douglas was laid out by Alonzo Foster in 1860, the village got its namesake from the Illinois Senator Stephan A. Douglas.
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 New Douglas’s history is told.
Peaked at 555 in 1890; 350 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Douglas’ Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of New Douglas.
New Douglas was laid out by Alonzo Foster in 1860, the village got its namesake from the Illinois Senator Stephan A. Douglas . The community was centered on the local coal mines and farming into the early 1900s. When need for coal dropped in the 1950s the town fell back on its farming roots, mostly of corn and soybeans.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention New Douglas, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Toledo, St. L. & W. railroad traverses New Douglas township and the Illinois Cen¬ tral passes through Olive township within a mile of the western boundary of New Douglas. The population of the township in 1890 was 1,024; in 1900, 931 ; in 1910, 948.
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.
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 New Douglas. 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 New Douglas.
Nobody well known was born in New Douglas itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1860, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. New Douglas’ post office opened in 1861, and the census of 1880 counted 400 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), 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.
