Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #45 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Cave Creek was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Its Register listings are the Cave Creek Service Station, the Tubercular Cabin and the Dome House. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1980.
Cave Creek dates its founding to 1870 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1980.
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cave Creek is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #45 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Few Arizona towns list much on the Register (a typical Arizona town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cave Creek’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (74% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Cave Creek’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Cave Creek.
Cave Creek was settled in 1870 by soldiers on horseback from Fort McDowell. In 1873, prospectors from the Bradshaw Mountains found gold in the town. The town is named for the cave next to the creek the town was founded on. The town was incorporated in 1986.
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
Born hereCassie Miller is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cave Creek. 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 Cave Creek.
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.
Between 1,589 and 5,015 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cave Creek’s Wikipedia page.
Cave Creek’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Liscum, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1870, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cave Creek’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1980 counted 1,589 people here.
Cave Creek is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #45 of 140 in Arizona. 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 Cave Creek Service Station (listed 2000), the Tubercular Cabin (2001) and the Dome House (2018).
0.0% of Cave Creek’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1998.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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