Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1890.
The Axtell post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mirage (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Axtell was named for a railroad worker.
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 Axtell’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Axtell. 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 Axtell.
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.
1899Sheet 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 Axtell.
The first settlement at Axtell was made in the 1870s. Axtell was incorporated as a village in 1885 when the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad was extended to that point. It was named for a railroad worker.
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 Survey
In the archiveA Residence Street of
BuiltBethphage Mission is built
In the archiveKHOL-TV studio c. 19642 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Axtell’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 262 people in 1890 to 732 in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Axtell’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Axtell itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Axtell’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Mirage, 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).
The Axtell post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Bethphage Mission (listed 2013).
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 (7), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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