Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Rural Township post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rural (1858), 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 Rural Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Rural Township.
Rural Township was formed out of Coal Valley Township prior to 1839. The first settlers of the region were Thomas and Davis Goodlow. The first schoolhouse was built in the township in 1846. In 1848, the nearest habitation was in Milan (then Camden Hills), and the nearest post office was in Rock Island.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Rural Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
school education, and in the spring of 1853 came to this county, when, in company with his brother James, engaged in the occupation of farming, in Rural Township, which vocation he continued, in the partnership mentioned, for about seven years. He then settled on 480 acres of land in Rural Township, which had been purchased by his father several years previous, and he entered vigorously
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Margaret is the wife of James Bailey, a resident of Rural Township and by occupation a farmer. William settled in Iowa, where he lived several years, and on account of ill health returned to Rural Township, where he died. Alexander is living in Keokuk, Iowa, where he is engaged in farming. David resides in Rural Township, and follows the vocation of a farmer. James C. is a United Presbyterian cler-
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Rural Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Rural, 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 Rural Township post office opened in 1858, 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 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.
