Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Centerville was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1959. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1960.
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 Centerville’s history is told.
Peaked at 241 in 1980; 167 people lived here in 2020.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Centerville’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Centerville.
A post office called Centreville was established in 1846, and the name was changed to Centerville in 1892. Centerville was named from its central location in the county.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings 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 Centerville. 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 Centerville.
Nobody well known was born in Centerville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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) 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.
