Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of McCrory was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 26 buildings. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1890.
The McCrory post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McCrory is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so McCrory’s 157 sits above most of its state (94% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 29 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McCrory’s history is told.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of McCrory.
The town began to get organized when word spread in 1886 that local land had been donated by one Wade McCrory to the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway for their projected route from Memphis, Tennessee to Little Rock. The first train actually arrived the next year, and the town was formally incorporated on January 30, 1890.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McCrory.
1980Mc Crory sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of McCrory.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Between 225 and 1,971 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on McCrory’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in McCrory itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The McCrory post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
McCrory is more historic than 50% 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.
Three places: the McCrory Waterworks (listed 2007), the Morris, Dr. John William, Clinic (2009) and the McCrory Commercial Historic District (2010).
4% of McCrory’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (10), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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