Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #13 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it
Most of Kodiak was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1880.
The Kodiak post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1940.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kodiak is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #13 of 41 in Alaska. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Alaska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Alaska town has 3.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Kodiak’s 7.3 sits above most of its state (74% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kodiak’s Wikipedia page.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
5 decades in the archive, from the 1800s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1885Distant view of Kodiak, Alaska, between 1880 and 1890
c. 1890Steamer PORTLAND anchored at Kodiak, ca. 1890
1894Russian - Greek(?) church, Kadiack [i.e
1894St. Paul - Kadiack [i.e
1894St. Paul - Kadiack [i.e
c. 1898Fenced pen of Arctic Red Fox, Kodiak, ca. 1898
1899Aleut Village, Woody Island, Kodiak by Frederick Samu…
1899Kodiak, Kodiak Island, Alaska, July 1899
1899The Village of Kodiak by Fred Dellenbaugh, 1899, Kodi…From Wikipedia’s history of Kodiak.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Kodiak Archipelago has been home to the Alutiiq for at least 7,000 years. In their language, qikertaq means "island".
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.
In the archiveRussian Sloop-of-War Neva
In the archiveHarbor of St. Paul in the Island of Cadiack
In the archiveUntitled photoIn the archiveDistant view of Kodiak, Alaska, between 1880 and 1890In the archiveSteamer PORTLAND anchored at Kodiak, ca. 1890
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereR. Stanley Williams is born here
Born hereJason Everman is born here
Born hereDarby Stanchfield is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kodiak. 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 Kodiak.
No 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 Kodiak’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Kodiak’s post office has been open since 1869.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Kodiak post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1940.
Kodiak is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #13 of 41 in Alaska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Russian-American Company Magazin (a National Historic Landmark since 1962), and 1 site.
0.0% of Kodiak’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 1978.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
★ Landmark
