Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 1880.
The Utica post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.
Utica was named after Utica, New York.
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 Utica’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Utica.
Utica was established when the Burlington & Missouri Valley Railroad was extended to that point. It was named after Utica, New York.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Utica, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Population, including Utica, 1,225, with 160 farms and ten manufacturing industries, and six miles of railroad. Their railroad station and village is the bright town of Utica, which was founded in the autumn of 1878. The first beginning and growth of Utica is related in another chapter, but its present status may be named here.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Milford is now an excellent charge, has a good frame church and parsonage valued at $4,000, a membership of 76, and in the midst of a flourishing district of country is bound to soon become a power for good. Utica, as an appointment, embraces at present the town of Tamora, has a neat and comfortable church and commodious parsonage in the town of Utica, and a church building at Tamora valued at $4,000; has over 100 membership, and is building up very ra{)idly.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
marked a new era in the development of the county. This year the Midland Pacific railroad company passed into the hands of the B. & M. company and the rails were laid to York, and the town of Utica was founded. Amongthe very earliest settlers on that great prairie was the Hon. Geo. A. Derby who homesteaded land to the north and west of where Utica now stands, in 1.^72. Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Utica has many real live men that mean to keep Utica to the front, but there are some clogs in the wheel. Some of her most wealthy citizens that have made their money off the people are more of a hindrance than a help.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Utica. 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 Utica.
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 Utica’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 194 and 861 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Utica’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Utica post office opened in 1874, 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), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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