Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1890.
The Mentone post office opened in 1882, 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 Mentone’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.
1896Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mentone.
Mentone was platted in 1882. It was likely named after Menton, in France. The Mentone post office was established in 1882.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Mentone, cut from the printed page as they were published.
1831. Since early youth he has been noted for his unusual business ability and enterprise. Before he was fifty years old he had accumulated 2,500 acres of land, nearly all of it in Kosciusko County. He also founded the Village of Mentone, which was surveyed and platted in May, 1882. He built the first elevator there in the spring of that year, and used his capital and influence to promote its growth and development in many ways. On his extensive acreage he raised and bred innumerable cattle, hogs and horses, and at one time he was said
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1831. Since early youth he has been noted for his unusual business ability and enterprise. Before he was fifty years old he had accumulated 2,500 acres of land, nearly all of it in Kosciusko County. He also founded the Village of Mentone, which was surveyed and platted in May, 1882. He built the first elevator there in the spring of that year, and used his capital and influence to promote its growth and development in many ways. On his extensive acreage he raised and bred innumerable cattle, hogs and horses, and at one time he was said
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mentone. 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 Mentone.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mentone’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 678 and 1,001 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mentone’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Mentone post office opened in 1882, 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 (7), 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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