Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Shawneetown was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1940.
The Shawneetown post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1937.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shawneetown. 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 Shawneetown.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereSamuel S. Marshall is born here
Born hereWilliam W. Wilshire is born here
Born hereJames H. Wilson is born here
Born hereFrank C. Millspaugh is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archive1937 flood Shawneetown Illinois refugeesFrom Wikipedia’s history of Shawneetown.
The present town was established in 1937 after the Ohio River flood of 1937 inundated what is now Old Shawneetown, Illinois.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Shawneetown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,054 and 1,963 people in every census since 1940.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shawneetown’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Shawneetown’s post office has been open since 1811.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Shawneetown post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1937.
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), the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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