Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1900.
The Ethel post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ratliff (1888), opened inside today’s town 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 Ethel’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ethel.
Ethel had its start in 1888 when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was extended to that point. An early variant name was "Ratliff".
A post office called Ethel has been in operation since 1890. On July 26, 2011, the U.S. Postal Service announced plans to permanently close the Ethel post office as part of a nationwide restructuring plan.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ethel, cut from the printed page as they were published.
assassinated in the midst of the sectional strife that darkened and saddened this unhappy land from 1861 to 1865, because of his political opinions and his fidelity in defending them in two of the historic wars in which this country has been engaged, James E. Heatou, of Ethel. in this county, was obliged at an early age to look out for himself and work for his own advancement among men. He is one of the prominent and progressive farmers and stockmen of "White township, and during the last four years has been president of the Bank of Ethel. The success
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 Ethel. 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 Ethel.
Between 41 and 423 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ethel’s Wikipedia page.
Ethel’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Ratliff, 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 Ethel post office opened in 1890, 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, 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.
