Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Andrew Nicholson Farmstead. Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 1890.
Steen Township was named for Richard Steen, a pioneer settler.
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 Steen Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Steen Township.
Steen Township was founded in 1857. It was named for Richard Steen, a pioneer settler.
Andrew Nicholson Farmstead was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 1,871 in 1920; 803 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Steen Township’s Wikipedia page.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Steen Township. 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 Steen Township.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Steen Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
One place: the Andrew Nicholson Farmstead (listed 2005).
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
