Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
The Richmond post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.
Richmond was named for John C. Richmond, a local farmer who donated forty acres of land to the railroad for a station location.
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 Richmond’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Richmond. 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 Richmond.
From Wikipedia’s history of Richmond.
Richmond was founded in 1870. It was named for John C. Richmond, a local farmer who donated forty acres of land to the railroad for a station location.
The first post office in Richmond was established in April 1870.
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 1930s. 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 Richmond’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 50 and 528 people in every census since 1880.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Richmond’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Richmond itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Richmond post office opened in 1870, 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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.
