Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1880.
The Beloit post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, East Westville (1851) and Smithfield Station (1857), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Beloit’s history is told.
Beloit’s post office has been open since 1867. Two other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beloit. 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 Beloit.
From Wikipedia’s history of Beloit.
Beloit had its start in the late 1840s by the building of the railroad through that territory. It was originally called Smithfield Station, and the name Beloit was adopted in 1863. The name Beloit is a transfer from Beloit, Wisconsin.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Beloit, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Beloit commenced its existence as a station •on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and was originally called Smithtield Station, the name being changed to Beloit in 1803.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A new flouring mill has lately been built in the village of Beloit and is now in successful operation, the owners of which are H. G. Stanley & Sons.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A new flouring mill has lately been built in the village of Beloit and is now in successful operation, the owners of which are H. G. Stanley & Sons.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Beloit commenced its existence as a station -on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and was originally called Smithfield Station, the name being changed to Beloit in 1863.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBetween 162 and 1,093 people in every census since 1880.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Beloit’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Beloit itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Beloit post office opened in 1867, 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 (2), Wikipedia, 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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