Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1880.
Mapleton Township dates its founding to 1871 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mapleton Township.
Mapleton was platted at its current site in 1871 when the railroad was extended to that point.
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 archiveGrandfather and Grandmother Troendle with friends, Mapleton, Minnesota - DPLA - 4955f3b64…
In the archiveFritz Gerth residence, Mapleton, Minnesota - DPLA - 904c3243c3076096f0a3e100f8ffef44
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1890Grandfather and Grandmother Troendle with friends, Ma…
c. 1890Lucas Troendle home, Mapleton, Minnesota - DPLA - 300…
c. 1896People on porch, Mapleton, Minnesota - DPLA - e5b40fa…
c. 1896Women and children on a lawn, Mapleton, Minnesota - D…c. 1900Fritz Gerth residence, Mapleton, Minnesota - DPLA - 9…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mapleton 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 Mapleton Township.
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 Mapleton Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 351 and 1,756 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mapleton Township’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1871, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1880 counted 351 people here.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
