Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1890.
The Rising City post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Summit (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Rising City was named for A. W. and S. W. Rising, the original owners 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 Rising City’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rising City. 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 Rising City.
From Wikipedia’s history of Rising City.
Rising City was established in 1878 when the Omaha and Republican Valley Railway was extended to that point. It was named for A. W. and S. W. Rising, the original owners 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.
Born hereWalter Judd is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveNebraska Sod HouseOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. 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 Rising City’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 308 and 610 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rising City’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Rising City’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Summit, 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 Rising City post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 (5), the Library of Congress (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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