Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1886 on.
The Marmaton Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Marmiton (1857), Gilfillan (1882) and Marmaton (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Marmaton Township was named for the Marmaton River, which crosses the township.
Marmaton is a corruption of Marmiton, a French name given by fur traders meaning "scullion".
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 Marmaton Township’s history is told.
Four other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marmaton 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 Marmaton Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Marmaton Township.
Marmaton was incorporated in 1858. It was named for the Marmaton River, which crosses the township. Marmaton is a corruption of Marmiton, a French name given by fur traders meaning "scullion".
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Marmaton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Marmaton Township post office opened in 1882, 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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
