Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Gloster was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1890.
The Gloster post office opened in 1884, 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 Gloster’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,726 in 1980; 897 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gloster’s Wikipedia page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gloster.
It was largely founded as a railroad town. Gloster was named after the engineer who put the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley R.R. through in the 1880s.
Drax Biomass operates a 450,000-metric-ton (440,000-long-ton) per year wood pellet production facility in Gloster. The facility was expected to create 45 jobs, and is called Amite BioEnergy.
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.
Born hereBarney Poole is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereLee Robinson is born here
Born hereDamien Wilson is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gloster. 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 Gloster.
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 Gloster’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Gloster post office opened in 1884, 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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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