Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1890.
The Deepwater post office opened in 1840, 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.
Peaked at 1,398 in 1910; 355 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Deepwater’s Wikipedia page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Deepwater’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born herePearce Chiles is born here
Born hereHerbert Sorrell is born here
In the archiveRussell Storm Shield Mfg. Co. ("American medical directory", 1906 advert)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Deepwater.
Deepwater was laid out in 1885, taking its name from nearby Deepwater Creek. A post office called Deepwater has been in operation since 1885.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Deepwater, cut from the printed page as they were published.
with his widowed mother. They settled at Sandyhook and later removed to Knox County, Missouri, where he grew to manhood and was married to Rosa J. Sharp. In 1885 he came to Henry County with his family and located at Deepwater, which was the year that the town of Deepwater was laid out. W. E. Goodwin was an ordained minister and for a number of years was identified with the American Bible Society. He has always been active in religious work and was principally the founder of the Southern Methodist Church at Deepwater. He and his wife contributed
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In May of this year Clinton and Osceola were connected by rail, but the new town of Deepwater had only a stage line leaving Clinton every morning at 8 o'clock. The towns of Garland and Maurine were laid out on the Kansas City & Southern, and active building continued at Urich.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Date?House
Date?House, Road E
Date?Second & Front Streets (House)
Date?John French Farm, South Grand River
Date?William C. Lloyd House, Road E
Date?Stewart-Rickson House, Road East vicinity
Date?Moses Gaskill House, Route W vicinity
Date?John French Outbuilding, South Grand River vicinity
Date?John French Barn, South Grand River vicinityEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Deepwater. 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 Deepwater.
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 Deepwater’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Deepwater’s post office has been open since 1840.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Deepwater post office opened in 1840, 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 (3), the Library of Congress (9), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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