Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1900.
The Ridott Township post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ridott Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. 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 Ridott 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 Ridott Township’s history is told.
Peaked at 244 in 1970; 124 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ridott Township’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Ridott Township.
Originally called Cochranville, Ridott was renamed in 1863 after Ridott Township. A post office was established as Cochranville in 1860, and renamed Ridott in 1861.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ridott Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
gage in Stephenson County. In 1842, on the 28th of August, the famous colony of English agriculturists, whose descendants in many instances still reside in Stephenson County in the vicity of Ridott, came west. They settled in the timber lands in Ridott Township, near the river, having been directed to that portion of the county by their scouts who were sent out the year before and settled the lands near the river as suitable place for settlements. For several years the Englishmen lived together in peace and harmony in the Ridott woods.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Illinois Central runs through the central portion from northwest to southeast and through the stations at Everts and Legal. Lastly, the Chicago and Great Western cuts across the southwestern corner of Ridott Township, with its station at the village of German Valley. From German Valley it runs directly southeast to Ogle County, where its first station is located at Egan. From that point it runs to Chicago in an almost direct line.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ridott 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 Ridott Township.
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 Ridott Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Ridott Township post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Ridott Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. 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.
31% of Ridott Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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