Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and old-book passages.
Southport dates its founding to 1639 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1825.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJoseph Earl Sheffield is born here
Born hereJonathan Sturges is born here
Born hereOliver Henry Perry is born here
In the archiveSouthport Globe Onion field ca. 1880
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archivePequot Library, Southport, Conn
Born hereCameron Walker-Wright is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Southport. 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 Southport.
From Wikipedia’s history of Southport.
The indigenous village of Sasqua, inhabited by Quiripi language speakers, was located in the area. Members of that community later formed the Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Southport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Southport was originally included in the parish of Fairfield. A general desire on the part of its residents to enjoy the privileges of the .sanctuary within a more convenient distance led to the completion of a church edifice in their village in the year 1843.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
large tract of land in Stratford. He also owned property in i ldgeport. He at one time owned and operated the old toll bridge over the Pequonnock river and also owned the noted Tide Mill at Southport. Eliakim Hough, who was a pioneer real estate developer in Bridgeport and vicinity and an outstanding figure
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
its own. The parish at Stratfield also had erected a church upon the Plain of Pequonnuc a short distance east of the grove near the new cemetery, the number of families by this time having increased to about twenty-five. By these changes the parish of Fairfield was reduced in limits to the villages of Greens Farms, Greenfield, & Southport, or Mill River. The parishes of Stratfield & Norfield, however, continued under the care of the Rev. Mr. Lamson who preached once a month at Stratfield, & at Norfield, giving them besides as much of his time as his parish at Fairfield would allow. He was an able & accomplished scholar, a devoted and enthusiastic churchman, greatly beloved among his
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
1908Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Southport’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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1639, according to Wikidata. Southport’s post office opened in 1825.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
1900
1903
1905
c. 1905