Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Debs School. Most of Piedra was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1924 on.
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 Piedra’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Piedra. 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 Piedra.
From Wikipedia’s history of Piedra.
The Piedra Post Office was established in 1879, and remained in operation until 1927. Piedra is a name derived from Spanish meaning "stone".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Piedra itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
One place: the Debs School (listed 2005).
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
