Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1959 on and old-book passages.
The Collins post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.
Alternatively, some say Collins was named after Thomas Collins of Valdosta, Georgia who settled in the area after the American Civil War.
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 Collins’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Collins.
Some say the community was named after a railroad official named Collins, while others believe the place is named after Collinsville, Connecticut.
Alternatively, some say Collins was named after Thomas Collins of Valdosta, Georgia who settled in the area after the American Civil War.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Collins, cut from the printed page as they were published.
When the war was over, Lieutenant Bargus took a commercial course in Oberlin College, after which he went west for one year, when, on returning to Huron county, he settled on a farm in Townsend township, near Collins, where he subsequently engaged in farming and fruit raising. He became a large landowner, his farms at one time containing more than four hundred acres, and he yet owns about three hundred and sixty acres of valuable land, well improved and under a high state of cultivation. For some years, he also owned and operated a sawmill, doing a large business in lumber and timber until April, 1890, when his mills were en-
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Collins. 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 Collins.
Nobody well known was born in Collins itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Collins post office opened in 1872, 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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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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