Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #486 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1986 on, and the census since 1890.
The Oblong Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1883. Another post office, Grand Glade (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oblong Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #486 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Oblong Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Oblong Township’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,860 in 1970; 1,371 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oblong Township’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oblong Township.
Oblong was incorporated in 1883. The original town site was on a naturally occurring oblongular prairie, hence the name. The crossroads at the town site was the location of a general store owned by Henry Peck. The prominent sign "Hen. Peck" gave rise to the village's original moniker, Henpeck.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oblong Township.
1986Terre Haute sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oblong Township.
Another post office, Grand Glade, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Oblong Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1883.
Oblong Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #486 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.
17% of Oblong Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2012