Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1920.
Bellefonte first appears in the census in 1920.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bellefonte is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Delaware towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Delaware town has 29.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bellefonte’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (14% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first census (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 Bellefonte’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bellefonte yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bellefonte is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the town is 1,225.
Its first post office opened in 1920. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,193 to 1,225 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Peaked at 2,593 in 1940; 1,225 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bellefonte’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bellefonte. 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 Bellefonte.
Nobody well known was born in Bellefonte itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Bellefonte post office opened in 1920, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Bellefonte is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. 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.
51% of Bellefonte’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Delaware town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (3), 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.
2022
2022
2004
