Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1880.
The St. Clair post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Winnebago Agency (1856), opened inside today’s city 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 St. Clair’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of St. Clair.
St. Clair was originally called Hilton, and was platted under that name in 1865. St. Clair was incorporated in 1907; the present name is in honor of General James St. Clair.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention St. Clair, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Lake in the fall of 1854. In 1855, the town was made a part of the Winnebago Reservation and the Agency buildings were located on the site of the present village of St. Clair. A number of government officials and employees were settled here and made the point one of special importance during the Indian occu}iancy. August 31, 1855, the town was made an election precinct
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
came upon ponies and dog carts, and still others on foot, and were piloted out to their reservation. General Fletcher fixed upon the spot where now stands the village of St. Clair as the headquarters for the tribe, and here he had his own house and the government houses and stores erected, and the place was designated the ''Winnebago Agency."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Clair. 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 St. Clair.
Between 133 and 868 people in every census since 1880.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Clair’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in St. Clair itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Winnebago Agency, 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 St. Clair post office opened in 1886, 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, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
