Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Weyl Service Station. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1962 on, and the census since 1890.
The Trenton post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.
Trenton was named after Trenton, New Jersey.
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 Trenton’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,239 in 1950; 516 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Trenton’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Trenton.
Trenton was platted in 1885 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named after Trenton, New Jersey.
Due to Trenton's location near the center of the county, and its position on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the seat of Hitchcock County was transferred there from the first county seat, Culbertson.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Trenton. 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 Trenton.
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 Trenton’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
The Trenton post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Weyl Service Station (listed 2002).
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 (4), the Library of Congress (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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