Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1880.
The Stonington post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Stonington’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Stonington.
On December 1, 2018, an EF2 tornado struck the western part of the village; there were no injuries or deaths.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 1,466 in 1920; 837 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Stonington’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Stonington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Catholic congregation of the latest date in Christian county is that of Stonington, ten miles north from Taylorville. It was incorporated about the year 1873. Father Kane, at that time pastor of the church in Macon, was the first one to encourage the Catholics around the little town of Stonington to build a church and organize themselves as a congregation. The R. C. Bishop Baltcs of Alton, when asked, gave his consent. Hence a subscription was taken up; but for ditterent reasons, the work failed at that time, and was stopped
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town had a post-office, but it was subsequently moved to the new town of Stonington. The old hotel is now the residence of N. B. Chapman. Below we add the township officers : Supervisors. — Asa Bowman, elected 1806, re-elected 1867, and continued in office up to 1874 ; Joshua Barrich, elected 1874 ; R.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Stonington. 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 Stonington.
Nobody well known was born in Stonington itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Stonington post office opened in 1844, 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), Wikipedia, 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 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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