Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1880.
Amboy dates its founding to 1867 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Amboy’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Amboy.
Amboy was platted in 1867, when the Pan Handle Railroad was extended to that point. A post office has been in operation at Amboy since 1868.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 521 in 1910; 317 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Amboy’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Amboy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Lamb and Abi.jah Ridgeway laid out the tonii of Amboy on section 23, four miles west of Converse, as a station on the new railroad. About the time the town was laid out, Elisha Clark established a large steam sawmill there and a little later the firm of Lowder & Smith put up a second savraiill. Both these mills did a good business while the timber lasted, and large quantities of lumber were sliipped from Amboy during the early years of its existence. About the mills a village soon grew up and other lines of business were introduced. The first merchant was Ben-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
or more comformable to their situation, after the changes of half a century. The title of the act was “ an act for erecting the north ward9 of Perth Amboy and a part of the township of Woodbridge, in the county of Middlesex, into a city, and for incorporating the same, by the name and title of the city of Perth Amboy.” The author of the bill must have been a warm friend to the young city, judging from the preamble, which was as follows.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
or more comformable to their situation, after the changes of half a century. The title of the act was 11 an act for erecting the north ward9 of Perth Amboy and a part of the township of Woodbridge, in the county of Middlesex, into a city, and for incorporating the same, by the name and title of .the city of Perth Amboy.” The author of the bill must have been a warm friend to the young city, judging from the preamble, which was as follows.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Amboy. 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 Amboy.
In 1867, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Amboy’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1880 counted 208 people here.
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, 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 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.
