Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1963 on, and the census since 1900.
Tilden dates its founding to 1880 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
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 Tilden’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Tilden.
Tilden was originally called "Burnett", under which name it was laid out by the railroad in 1880. It was incorporated as Burnett in 1885, but the U.S. Post Office officially changed the name of the village in 1887, after presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden, to avoid confusion with Bennet, Nebraska. Tilden was incorporated as a city in 1919.
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.
In the archiveTilden Public School
Born hereL. Ron Hubbard is born here
Born hereRichie Ashburn is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tilden. 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 Tilden.
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 Tilden’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 533 and 1,106 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tilden’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, Burnett, 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).
In 1880, according to Wikidata. Tilden’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1900 counted 533 people here.
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), the Library of Congress (2), 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.
1908
2010
2005