Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1890.
The Whitewood post office opened in 1877, 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 Whitewood’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1940, then grew 3-fold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Whitewood’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Whitewood. 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 Whitewood.
From Wikipedia’s history of Whitewood.
Whitewood was platted in 1888 when the Chicago and North Western Railway was extended to that point. It took its name from nearby Whitewood Creek.
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 SurveyNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Whitewood’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Nobody well known was born in Whitewood itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Whitewood post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Whitewood Historic District (listed 2007).
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
Date?
2014
2004