Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1890.
The McLouth post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.
McLouth was named for Amos McLouth, the original owner of the town site.
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 McLouth’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1960, then more than doubled.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on McLouth’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of McLouth.
McLouth was founded in the 1880s. It was named for Amos McLouth, the original owner of the town site.
The first post office in McLouth was established in May 1882.
Since 1957, McLouth has been the site of the Threshing Bee and Fall Festival, a celebration of antique farm machinery.
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.
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kansas (KS) - Jefferson County - McLouth - ED 44-…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2024McLouth, KS - street scene
2024McLouth, KS - street scene in shadow
2024McLouth, KS - post office
2024McLouth, KS - park
2024McLouth, KS - downtown in shadow
2024McLouth, KS - downtown buildings
2024McLouth, KS - corner in downtown
2024McLouth, KS - Trump supporter
2024McLouth, KS - First Baptist Church
2004KSMap-doton-McLouthEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McLouth. 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 McLouth.
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.
1905Sheet 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 McLouth’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The McLouth 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 Wikimedia Commons (11), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
