Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1890.
The Latham post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bodock (1883), opened inside today’s city 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 Latham’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Latham. 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 Latham.
Peaked at 364 in 1910; 96 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Latham’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Latham.
Latham was laid out in 1885. It may have been named for Latham Young, a railroad official.
A post office was opened in Bodock (an extinct town) in 1883, but it was moved to Latham in 1885.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Latham, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Jamison has done as a contractor and builder are the following: A forty foot stone arch bridge, one mile west of Latham ; the piers for the iron bridge across the Walnut at Augusta ; a thirty-six foot stone arch bridge, in Bruno township ; a thirty-six foot stone arch bridge, across Hickory creek, near Leon ; a thirty-six foot stone arch bridge in Chelsea township, near Chelsea; a thirty foot stone arch bridge at Brainard; and a thirty foot stone arch bridge, across Turkey creek, five miles south of El Dorado. Mr. Jamison has probably built about fifty county
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
chiefly of exhorting and hymn singing, was conducted at the home of J. A. AIcGinnis. The audience consisted chiefly of the local bachelors and recruits from the neighboring settlement on Rock creek, near the present site of Latham. Among these visitors were Prosser brothers. Will, James and Alvah, and the VanMeters. The first Sunday school was organized in 1881 by Dr. J. B. Carlisle, who was then just a school teacher, teaching in what is known as the Lost school house. Here the school was organized. When his term of school was out, Mrs. Martin
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Latham’s page.
Retake this view · +15Latham’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Bodock, 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 Latham post office opened in 1885, 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 (4), Wikipedia, 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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