Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1930.
Elliott dates its founding to 1883 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1930.
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 Elliott’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elliott yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Elliott is a city in Ransom County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 24 at the 2020 census. Elliott was founded in 1883.
Elliott was established in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 25 to 24 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elliott. 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 Elliott.
Between 24 and 118 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elliott’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Elliott itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Elliott had its own post office from 1884 to 1972.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1883, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Elliott’s post office opened in 1884, and the census of 1930 counted 106 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 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.
