Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Sutton-Alpine was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1940.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sutton-Alpine is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns. 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 Sutton-Alpine’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 half of its people between 1960 and 1970, then grew more than tenfold.
8 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sutton-Alpine’s Wikipedia page.
Two 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sutton-Alpine’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Sutton-Alpine.
The first people in Sutton were the Ahtna and Dena'ina Athabascans, who called Sutton Ts'es Tac'ilaexde and Ts'es Tuk'ilaght, respectively. In both languages, the name means 'where fish run among rocks'.
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 Survey
In the archiveEND VIEW OF HOIST, SHOWING REDUCTION GEARS AND BED FOR (MISSING) CLUTCH-DRIVE GEAR UNIT, …One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Date?OBLIQUE END VIEW SHOWING GRILLE BELOW EXHAUST PORT, L…
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW OF DRYER, LOOKING NORTHWEST. TOP COVER I…
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW OF HOIST, SHOWING CABLE DRUM, WOODEN BRA…
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW OF HOIST, SHOWING CABLE DRUM, WOODEN BRA…
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW OF HOIST, SHOWING REDUCTION GEARS AND BE…
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW OF HOIST, SHOWING WOODEN BRAKE SHOES, RE…
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW OF ROOF PARTS, LOOKING WEST - Eska Coal …
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW SHOWING FOUR-BELT DRIVE WHEEL AND FAN HO…
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH - Eska Coal Mine, Jeffery…
Date?OBLIQUE VIEW, LOOKING SOUTHWEST, OF MCNALLY DRYER, WI…
Date?SIDE VIEW OF HOIST, SHOWING REDUCTION GEARS AND BED F…
Date?SIDE VIEW SHOWING DECORATIVE STRIPING ON DRIVE CYLIND…
Date?SIDE VIEW SHOWING MANUFACTURER'S PLATE AND MAIN BELT …
Date?VIEW OF MANUFACTURER'S PLATE, LOOKING SOUTHEAST - Esk…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sutton-Alpine. 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 Sutton-Alpine.
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 Sutton-Alpine’s page.
Retake this view · +15Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Sutton-Alpine is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns. 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.
0.0% of Sutton-Alpine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (17), 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.
1968
2005
