Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Marilla Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Marilla (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Marilla Township was named after the sister of one of the original members of the township board of supervisors.
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 Marilla Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Marilla Township.
The first settler in the area of the township was C. Churchill from New York state, who arrived in June 1866. The township was organized in 1869, having previously been part of Brown Township. It was named after the sister of one of the original members of the township board of supervisors.
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.
Born hereDora Hall Stockman is born hereWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Another post office, Marilla, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Marilla Township post office opened in 1871, 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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.