Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Burnettsville post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Burnett Creek (1837), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Burnettsville’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Burnettsville.
Burnettsville was laid out in 1854, and was named after the nearby Burnetts Stream. Around 1864, Burnettsville merged with the nearby town of Sharon.
A post office was first established in the community under the name Burnett's Creek, which ran from 1837 to 1922.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Burnettsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Idavillb Six years after the Town of Burnettsville was platted, on July 27, 1860, Andrew Hanna, John B. Townsley and John McCully laid out the Town of Hanna, now called Idaville, three miles west of the former village. It was platted on the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter and the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 28, township 27 north, range 2 west.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Railway Stations on the New Line Old Burnettsville had been platted several years before the coming of the railroad and was somewhat off its line, but during the month following the lively celebration of its opening, Sharon, adjoining Burnettsville, was platted and the two were soon consolidated under the origiual name. Idaville, three miles west, was platted and made a railroad station in July, 1S60, and Wolcott, in the western part of the county, came into line during the following year.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Burnettsville’s post office has been open since 1922. Another post office, Burnett Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Burnettsville post office opened in 1922, 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 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.