Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1880.
The Pontoosuc Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Camp Creek (1840) and Fruit Land (1874), 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 Pontoosuc Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices 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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive20th century atlas of Hancock County, Illinois
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pontoosuc Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pontoosuc is a village in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 99 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1849. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 413 to 365 (-12%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pontoosuc 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 Pontoosuc Township.
Between 99 and 299 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pontoosuc Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Pontoosuc Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Pontoosuc Township post office opened in 1849, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
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