Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Anacoco was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listing is the Holly Grove Methodist Church. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1980.
The Anacoco post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1979. Another post office, Orange (1898), opened inside today’s town 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 Anacoco’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Anacoco.
Anacoco was named after Bayou Anacoco and the Anacoco Prairie, all of the names most likely being ultimately derived from the Spanish "Llano Cuco" (Raincrow Plain). The French rendered this as "l'Anacoco," mistaking the initial letter as the French definite article, which English-speakers subsequently dropped as unnecessary.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Anacoco. 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 Anacoco.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 820 and 869 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Anacoco’s Wikipedia page.
Anacoco’s post office has been open since 1875. Another post office, Orange, 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 Anacoco post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1979.
One place: the Holly Grove Methodist Church (listed 1980).
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
2004