Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1880.
The Bigelow post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Bigelow’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bigelow.
The town of Bigelow, originally called Petersburg, started in August, 1868 when Captain H. L. Williams opened a store along the Burlington Railroad. A post office called Bigelow was established in 1869, and remained in operation until 1992. The village was named after a railroad promoter.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Bigelow, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Charles E. Currier, who lives on his fine farm of sixty-seven and one-half acres in section 9, Bigelow Township, one mile west of the town of Bigelow, first came to Holt County about sixty-five years ago. He also owns thirty-six and one-half acres in Bigelow Township two miles southwest of the farm on which he lives.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1861 the Hoover saw mill was moved from Mound City and set up on Big Tarkio, in the northeast quarter of section 17, township 61, range 39, one mile and a half south by west of the present town of Bigelow. In 1864 L. Hoover sold this mill
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bigelow. 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 Bigelow.
Between 5 and 195 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bigelow’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Bigelow itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Bigelow had its own post office from 1869 to 1992.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Bigelow post office opened in 1869, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
2020
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