Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The La Rue post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 La Rue’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of La Rue.
In the early 19th-century, prior to their removal in the 1830s, there was a Wyandot village at this location.
La Rue had its start in the early 1850s when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office has been in operation at La Rue since 1853.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention La Rue, cut from the printed page as they were published.
of his term of service he was honorably discharged October 5, 1864, when he returned home. He soon secured a clerkship in the Bellefontaine Railroad freight office, where he remained until 1869. when he was appointed railroad agent at La Rue, a position that he held for six years; then he was transferred to Anderson, Ind., acting as railroad agent at that place for six months; then returned to La Rue and was employed at the wood-bending works until April, 1883, when he was appointed Postmaster at La Rue, a position which he now holds. Im polities, he is a Republican, and has
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in 1835, stopping in Big Island Township one year, thence he moved to Montgomery Township, purchasing land, which amounted in time to 1,000 acres. He was largoly identified with the building up of the thriving village of La Rue. He owned at one time a grist mill, a saw mill and a carding mill here. He was an industrious and enterprising citizen, and was so generally interested in the growth of La Rue that as long as the village stands, so long will his name be remembered. His death took place in 1869, leaving a family of three children, four others having died. The
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The La Rue post office opened in 1853, 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 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.
