Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Bartley Sales Barn. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1890.
The Bartley post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.
Bartley was named for Rev. Allen Bartley, the original owner of the town site.
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 Bartley’s history is told.
Peaked at 511 in 1910; 270 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bartley’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bartley.
Bartley was platted in 1886 when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was extended to that point. It was named for Rev. Allen Bartley, the original owner of the town site.
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 SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bartley. 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 Bartley.
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.
Bartley’s post office has been open since 1886.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Bartley post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Bartley Sales Barn (listed 2018).
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 (1), 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) 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.
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