Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1899 on.
Sunol dates its founding to 1909 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1910.
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 Sunol’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sunol. 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 Sunol.
From Wikipedia’s history of Sunol.
Sunol was platted in 1909. A post office was established at Sunol in 1910, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1973.
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 archiveNebraska - Platte RiverOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. 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 Sunol’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Sunol itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Sunol had its own post office from 1910 to 1973.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1909, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Sunol’s post office opened in 1910.
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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
2011
