Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1900.
Wilsonville dates its founding to 1872 (Wikipedia’s history). 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 Wilsonville’s history is told.
Peaked at 489 in 1930; 75 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wilsonville’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Wilsonville.
Wilsonville was first settled in 1872 under the name “Wild Turkey”. A post office was established on April 18, 1873. On December 16, 1873, the name was officially changed from Wild Turkey to Wilsonville in honor of L.M. and Carlos Wilson, two brothers that were merchants and stockman.
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 archiveWilsonville, NE - Sept. 28, 1908
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 Wilsonville. 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 Wilsonville.
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 Wilsonville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Wilsonville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Wilsonville’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Wild Turkey, 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 1872, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Wilsonville’s post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1900 counted 296 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 (5), 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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