Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1890.
The South Greenfield post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Watkins (1881), 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 South Greenfield’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of South Greenfield.
South Greenfield was originally called Watkins, and under the latter name was laid out in 1881 when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office called Watkins was established in 1881, and the name was changed to South Greenfield in 1891.
The Dilday Mill was formerly listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of South Greenfield. 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 South Greenfield.
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 South Greenfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 90 and 430 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on South Greenfield’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in South Greenfield itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
South Greenfield’s post office has been open since 1891. Another post office, Watkins, 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 South Greenfield post office opened in 1891, 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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.
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