Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1930.
The Copeland Township post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wabash (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Copeland Township was named for E. L. Copeland, an official of the Santa Fe Railroad.
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 Copeland Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Copeland 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 Copeland Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Copeland Township.
Copeland was founded in 1912. It was named for E. L. Copeland, an official of the Santa Fe Railroad.
The first post office in Copeland was established in October 1912.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Copeland Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 242 and 423 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Copeland Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Copeland Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Wabash, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Copeland Township post office opened in 1912, 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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.
2004
