Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the First National Bank-Steinmeier Building. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1900.
The Ansley post office opened in 1886, 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 Ansley’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ansley.
Ansley got its start in the year 1886, following construction of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad through the territory. The town was named Ansley in honor of a lady of that name who bought several lots.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 817 in 1930; 459 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ansley’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Ansley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Echo to James Westervelt, who put his son Eugene in charge. In 1886, on the occasion of the building of the B. & AI. Railroad up the Muddy valley, the village of Ansley was platted and established by the railroad company, and the Echo was one of the institutions moved to the new town, where Eugene Westervelt had full charge of it.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and thereafter was for some time a clerk in the postoffice. In 1908 he became assistant cashier of the Bank of Ansley, and he has remained in this capacity ever since. This is a strong and conservative financial institution of Ansley, and one which has the confidence and patronage of the people in the surrounding countr}-. This faith and friendship have been
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Ansley. 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 Ansley.
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.
1902Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The Ansley post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the First National Bank-Steinmeier Building (listed 2011).
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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