Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1937 on and old-book passages.
The Osco Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Morristown (1840), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Osco Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Osco Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Osco is a census designated place in Osco Township, Henry County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Osco had a population of 108.
Its first post office opened in 1871. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 459 to 434 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Osco Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
farmer. In the year named he came to Henry County and bought 160 acres of land in Munson Township, which is still in his possession, and he is also the owner of 80 acres in Osco Township. He was a resident on his estate in the former township until his removal, in January, 1884, to Cambridge.
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.
Weddings 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 Osco 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 Osco Township.
Nobody well known was born in Osco Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Morristown, 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 Osco Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
