Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Z.C.B.J. Opera House. Its Register listing is the Z.C.B.J. Opera House. Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1890.
The Clarkson post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.
Clarkson was named for T. S. Clarkson, a postal official who helped establish the town's first post office.
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 Clarkson’s history is told.
Peaked at 918 in 1930; 641 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clarkson’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Clarkson.
Clarkson was platted in 1886 when it was certain that a new railroad line extended to the site. It was named for T. S. Clarkson, a postal official who helped establish the town's first post office.
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 Clarkson. 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 Clarkson.
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.
Clarkson’s post office has been open since 1882.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Clarkson post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Z.C.B.J. Opera House (listed 1988).
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 (3), Wikidata (1), 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) 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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