Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1990.
Buchanan dates its founding to 1887 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1990.
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 Buchanan’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buchanan. 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 Buchanan.
From Wikipedia’s history of Buchanan.
A post office called Buchanan has been in operation since 1894. The city's name honors James A. Buchanan, a local pioneer.
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.
Between 40 and 90 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Buchanan’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Buchanan itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Buchanan’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Rio, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1887, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Buchanan’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1990 counted 40 people here.
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.
