Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1860.
Montezuma dates its founding to 1824 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
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 Montezuma’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,537 in 1910; 921 people lived here in 2020.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Montezuma’s Wikipedia page.
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.
1895Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Montezuma.
Montezuma was laid out in about 1824. The town was named for Moctezuma II, ruler of the Aztec Empire. A post office has been in operation at Montezuma since 1825.
On June 17, 2021, Montezuma experienced an earthquake that measured 3.8 on the moment magnitude scale.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereGeorge Davis Herron is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Montezuma. 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 Montezuma.
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 Montezuma’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1824, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Montezuma’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1860 counted 580 people here.
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 the Library of Congress (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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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