Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1870.
The Avilla post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Avilla is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Avilla’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Indiana 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 Avilla’s history is told.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Avilla.
A post office has been in operation at Avilla since 1846. According to Ronald L. Baker, the town may be named after Ávila, Spain, but other sources indicated the name was given to represent the French word "villa," meaning a small town.
Among the oldest buildings is the St. James Hotel, which is now the St. James Restaurant.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Avilla, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of Avilla has a well conducted paper, the News, established in 1886, eight pages, independent in politics; Harry L.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
a farmer and earning the reputation of a moral and law-abiding citizen. Late in life he retired from the farm to the town of Avilla, where he closed a long and useful career in 1891. Airs. Haines is remembered as a woman of many excellent traits, and during the early years of her pioneer experience proved a brave helpmeet to her hus-
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Avilla. 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 Avilla.
Grew from 138 people in 1870 to 2,438 in 2020, more than tenfold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Avilla’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Avilla post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Avilla is more historic than 60% 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.
19% of Avilla’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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