Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the John and Justina Palo Homestead. Below: maps from 1961 on.
The Oulu post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1904.
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 Oulu’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oulu.
Finnish immigrants were settling in the area around Oulu since 1889. Although other immigrants came, including German and Norwegian settlers, around 75% of the population were still Finnish immigrants.
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.
Weddings 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 Oulu. 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 Oulu.
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.
Oulu had its own post office from 1903 to 1916.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Oulu post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1904.
One place: the John and Justina Palo Homestead (listed 2002).
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 (1), Wikipedia, 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.
