Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Herman Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listings are the Chapel Emmanuel Railroad Car, the Herman Luce Cabin and the Herschell-Spillman Steam Riding Gallery. Below: maps from 1968 on.
The Herman Township post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Herman (1874), Russell (1882) and Junius (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Herman Township’s history is told.
Three other post offices 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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Herman Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1874. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 624 to 669 (+7%).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltHerman Luce Cabin is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Herman Township. 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 Herman Township.
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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Herman Township post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Three places: the Chapel Emmanuel Railroad Car (listed 1976), the Herman Luce Cabin (1978) and the Herschell-Spillman Steam Riding Gallery (2016).
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 the National Register of Historic Places (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
