Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1910.
The Oaktown post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Oak Station (1855), 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 Oaktown’s history is told.
Peaked at 798 in 1960; 581 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oaktown’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oaktown.
Oaktown was laid out in 1867. The community was formally incorporated in 1909 and became a regional center of commerce and trade.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Oaktown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
tions for brick pavements, storm and sanitary sewers now under process of construction. He is city engineer of Oaktown, Knox county, where he has established street and sidewalk grades. During the last twelve years he has been bridge engineer for Knox county and in this capacity designed a bridge across the White river near Edwardsport. He is consulting engineer for the Gills Praire levee district of Sullivan county, Indiana, and has charge of plans and specifications of the William H. Brevoort levee in Knox county and all other levees along the Wabash and White rivers, making a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The subject of this review was educated in the district schools of Knox county and pursued his studies further in the high school at Oaktown. He early showed a decided talent for agricultural pursuits and at twenty-six years of age, having already gained a thorough knowledge of the details of agriculture and live-stock raising, he began farming and applied himself with such ability and diligence that he now owns a well improved farm of one hundred and fifteen acres, which under his management pays handsome dividends upon the investment. He is also a stockholder in the bank of Oaktown.
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 Oaktown. 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 Oaktown.
Oaktown’s post office has been open since 1866. Another post office, Oak Station, 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 Oaktown post office opened in 1866, 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 (3), 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.
2016
2005
2003
