Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #87 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1870.
The Ansonia post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1889.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ansonia is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #87 of 155 in Connecticut. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ansonia’s 7.9 sits below most of its state (7% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 Ansonia’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ansonia. 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 Ansonia.
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 8Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ansonia.
The area along the Naugatuck River, comprising the present Elm Street section of Ansonia and Derby Avenue section of Derby, was first settled by English colonists in 1652; it was originally a part of the township of Derby. Early settlers developed subsistence farming, and used the river for sawmills and gristmills.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ansonia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
John King, born in Manchester, England, in 1840, came to America in 1863, and settled in Ansonia, where he resided until 1870, then settled in the town of Seymour. From 1863 to 1880 he was in the mechanical and electrical department of Wallace & Sons' factory at Ansonia; from 1880 to the present time in the ice business in Ansonia and Seymour. He also carries on a saw mill, cider mill and distillery, and is a maker of cider machinery. He married, in 1862, Annie Potts.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
mour to Ansonia, and change of title to the Ansonia Bank was accomplished. He was the treasurer of the Ansonia Savings Bank during its existence, was president of the Ansonia Bank until he resigned, and is now vice-president of the Birmingham National Bank. He was the first warden of the borough of Ansonia. He has devoted much time and attention and some means to the development of " Riverview Park," a beautiful place in the borough of Shelton, dedicated to the public use for recreation, enjoyment and health, and of which he
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
summer he formed a partnership with John Lindley and moved to New Haven, where they began work as contractors and build¬ ers. In October, 1845, they took a contract to build a hotel in the new village of Ansonia for Henry Hotchkiss and accordingly moved to Ansonia, then a tiny hamlet. The work on the hotel was completed the following spring and on April 20, 1846, Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltRichard Mansfield House is built
In the archiveAnsoniaCTElectricalSupplyCoWorks1886
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveJ.W. Drew, Clara Barton, and Mr. and Mrs. Herman Schloss(?) on porch of house, 26 New St.…
BuiltAnsonia Library is built
In the archivePostcardAnsoniaCTFreeLibrary1906
Born hereReuben Henry Tucker III is born here
BuiltUS Post Office-Ansonia Main is built
Born hereAR Fox is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Ansonia’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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 2,749 and 21,160 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ansonia’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Ansonia’s post office has been open since 1849.
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.
The Ansonia post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1889.
Ansonia is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #87 of 155 in Connecticut. 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.
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Richard Mansfield House (listed 1971, the first), and 1 historic district, the Upper Main Street Historic District, with 11 contributing buildings. 15 historic buildings in all.
35% of Ansonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1891