Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
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 Martinsville’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1895Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Martinsville.
Martinsville was platted in 1816. By 1833, Martinsville had 75 inhabitants.
In 2013, prosecutors charged a former Martinsville council president and a village administrator with stealing more than $100,000 from the village.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Martinsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Farmer's Station Is a stop on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, about midway between Martinsville and New Vienna. This town was never platted, and evidently sprang up after the building of the railroad through this part of the county. J. P. McKlbben is the present agent for this railroad. Klbben also owns and runs an up-to-date general merchandise store in the village. A produce house Is also kept In connection with the store.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Farmer’s Station is a stop on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, about midway between Martinsville and New Vienna. This town was never platted, and evidently sprang up after the building of the railroad through this part of the county. J. F. McKibben is the present agent for this railroad. Kibben also owns and runs an up-to-date general merchandise store in the village. A produce house is also kept in connection with the store.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Martinsville is situated In the northern part of Clark township, on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railroad, about midway between New Vienna and Blanchester. This village was laid oat and platted by John Wright, William Nixon and James Moon, proprietors, on September 28, 1816. It was part of the Darid Bradford survey, No. 2,391.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Martinsville i situated in the northern part of Clark township, on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railrond, about midway between New Vienna and Blanchéster. This village was laid out and platted by John Wright, William Nixon and James Moon, proprietors, on September 23, 1816. It was part of the David Bradford survey, No. 2,391.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Martinsville. 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 Martinsville.
Between 264 and 539 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Martinsville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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