Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1923 on and old-book passages.
The Primrose post office opened in 1847, 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 Primrose’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Primrose yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1847. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 731 to 750 (+3%).
Passages that mention Primrose, cut from the printed page as they were published.
ment as a part of the town of Madison. Afterward, when Montrose was set oflT into a separate town, it formed one of its three townships. Finally, by an act of the State Legislature, approved March 21, 1849, Township 5 north, of Range 6 east, was set ofi" from the town of Montrose, and called Perry. It was, by the same act, attached to the town of Primrose for all town purposes. Perry was organized under its own town government in 1854, and the first town meeting was held on the 4th day of April of that year, at the house of A. Sanderson, when the following officers were elected : B. F. Denson, Chairman ; A. Sanderson and 0.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The plat is located in Section 34, town of Springdale; just a corner of the plat, the southwest, is in the town of Primrose. In 1849, George Britts built the first and only saw-mill in the town. This soon ran down. C. Semford Shumway next bought eighty acres from George Britts, and built a log house. 0.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of the county. Primrose post office is on section 21. The village of Mount Vernon lies part in section 3, and part in the town of Springdale, a small settlement.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
There has always existed the best of feeling between the difi'erent nationalities in Primrose, To this there is but one exception. In the small village of Mt.Yernon, whereof a part is sitnated within the limits of the tovm, there lived in the early days of Primrose a man called Dr. Byam, and with him his two brothers and their families, all Americans* Dr. Byam and his brothers had, by their tricky and dishonest practices,
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Primrose. 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 Primrose.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Primrose had its own post office from 1847 to 1900.
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 Primrose post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 (5), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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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