Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Ortman Hotel. Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1910.
Canistota dates its founding to 1883 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.
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 Canistota’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Canistota.
Canistota was named after Canastota, New York the home of a railroad official, but misspelled in the application for a post office. The city was platted in 1883. Its location is the northwest corner of Section 34, chosen by the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. Canistota incorporated in 1900.
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.
Born hereDan Crippen is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2014Zion Lutheran Church in
2014Canistota sidewalk
2014Canistota post office and grain elevator
2014Canistota old Kostboth house
2014Canistota horseshoe pit
2014Canistota Post Office side
2014Canistota Post Office and mailbox
2014Canistota Ortman Hotel
2014Canistota Ortman Hotel and Clinic
2014Canistota Ortman Clinic
2014Canistota Main Street
2014Canistota Main Street panorama
2014Canistota Main Street continued
2014Canistota 4th and Elm panoramaEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Canistota. 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 Canistota.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 409 and 700 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Canistota’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Canistota’s post office has been open since 1919. Another post office, Canastota, 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).
In 1883, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Canistota’s post office opened in 1883, and the census of 1910 counted 409 people here.
One place: the Ortman Hotel (listed 1997).
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 (14), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
