Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1870.
Gordon dates its founding to 1849 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.
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 Gordon’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gordon.
Gordon was platted in 1849 and named for one of its first settlers. It was located at the intersection of the Dayton and Union and Ohio Electric railroads.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyPassages that mention Gordon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Her son, Frank S. Gordon, was then only about one year old, for his birth occurred in that township on the 5th of March, 1 86 1. He spent his boyhood days in the town of Gordon, where he mastered the rudiments of an English education in the common schools, under the direction of Professor J. T. Martz. In his fifteenth year he
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Ohio, and their wedding took place in December, 1856. Subsequently Mr. Bishop engaged in the operation of a saw-mill at Gordon, Darke county, where he resided until 1 86 1, when he purchased ninety acres of land, on winch he now lives. This he bought and operated in partnership with his brother, Peter W. Bishop, the business relationship
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The first Missionary or Regular Baptist church in Darke county was established at Gordon, and the organization is still in existence. S. M. Brower was the first preacher who conducted Baptist services in the Union church at this place about 1860. On Saturday, August 10, 1867. a number of brethren and sisters of the Baptist faith from the Gordon.
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cated on the Ohio Electric railway. The 1910 census showed a population of 100. Its growth has been retarded in recent years by the building of the D. and U. railway to the east and the location of Gordon and Arcanum on that line. Gordon. This place was platted in 1849, and named for one of the pioneers. It is located upon the D. & U. and Ohio Electric railways in the midst of a rich farming country and has been
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 Gordon. 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 Gordon.
Between 87 and 265 people in every census since 1870.
14 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gordon’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1849, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Gordon’s post office opened in 1853, and the census of 1870 counted 87 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 (4), 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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