Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1890.
The Birdseye post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 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 Birdseye’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Birdseye.
Birdseye was platted in 1880. Popular tradition says the town was first known as Bird, after Rev. "Bird" Johnson, who was helping to select a location for the first post office when he said "this spot suits Bird's eye". The Birdseye post office has been in operation since 1856.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Birdseye, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Line railroad. It is in the timber belt of Dubois County, and is a good shipping point for cross-ties, hoop-poles, staves and lumber. Birdseye was the name of the postoffice which was estab¬ lished in 1846. The town was in¬ corporated on Dec. 3, 1883. Its corporate limits cover four hundred acres. About
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in 1862 ; at Schnellville, November 10, 1873, and at Ireland, February The Reformed Methodist Church was founded at Birdseye. Rev. Peter New¬ ton, of that town was one of its founders and is one of its bishops. The Lutheran Church has some of the finest buildings in Dubois County.
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.
Born hereWilliam E. Cox is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Birdseye. 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 Birdseye.
Between 354 and 533 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Birdseye’s Wikipedia page.
The Birdseye post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1880.
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 (5), 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.
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