Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 10 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1970.
Arden dates its founding to 1900 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1970.
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 Arden’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Arden. 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 Arden.
From Wikipedia’s history of Arden.
Arden was founded in 1900 by sculptor Frank Stephens and architect William Lightfoot Price, based on ideas such as Henry George's single-tax, William Morris's Arts and Crafts principles, and Peter Kropotkin's theories of community. Philanthropist Joseph Fels funded the project.
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
BuiltVillage of Arden is built
In the archiveArden, Delaware suffrage parade c. 1913One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2024DART First State on-board bus info screens (bus 405)
2012Arden De winter
2012Arden DE winter 3
2012Arden DE winter 2
2011Tomorrow in
2011Stephens Theater Arden DE 96 cap
2010Grubb Burying Ground
2010Grubb Burying Ground 2
2010Arden House DE 2
2010Arden House 3
2010Arden House 1 DE
2010Arden Green Gate
2010Arden Craft ShopNo 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 Arden’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 430 and 555 people in every census since 1970.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Arden’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Arden itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1900, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1970 counted 555 people here.
One place: the Village of Arden (listed 1973).
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 (14), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
