Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1920.
The Gackle post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1904.
Gackle was named for George Gackle, a farmer.
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 Gackle’s history is told.
Peaked at 604 in 1950; 281 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gackle’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gackle.
Gackle was founded in 1904. It was named for George Gackle, a farmer.
The town is home to the Gackle Public Library. German has been spoken in Gackle in the past, and is visible in the inscriptions on the First UCC Church.
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.
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 Gackle. 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 Gackle.
Nobody well known was born in Gackle itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Gackle post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1904.
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.
