Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1870.
The Harmony post office opened in 1840, 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 Harmony’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,020 in 1890; 677 people lived here in 2020.
8 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harmony’s Wikipedia page.
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 SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Harmony.
Harmony was platted in 1864, although there had long been a small settlement at the site.
Coal Company Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places between 1986 and 1992.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Harmony, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Stafleth Robert, shoemaker, St. Phillip Stagrur Wm, cabinetmaker, Wadesville Staiger George, shoemaker, Blairsville Staley John, farmer Harmony twp, New Harmony Stallings Aaron, farmer, Lynn twp, New Harmony Stallings Alexander, farmer, Harmony twp, New Harmony Stallings Alonzo, farmer, Lynn twp, New Harmony Stallings Alvin, farmer, Bethel twp, New Harmony
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
"Whether because the managers of the Harmony Association found that the members could be more readily governed by occasional change of residence and occupation, or from whatever other motive, George Rapp, aided by his adopted son, Frederick Reichart, after a ten years' residence on the Wabash, determined to make another move; this time eastward instead of westward; and, through the agency of Mr. Richard Flower, of Albion, Illinois, the village of New Harmony and upwards of twenty thousand acres of land were sold, in 1825, for a hundred
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 Harmony. 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 Harmony.
Nobody well known was born in Harmony itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Harmony post office opened in 1840, 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 (1), 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.
2012
