Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 118 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Frederica is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Frederica’s 1,130 sits above most of its state (91% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 120 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 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.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Frederica’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Frederica.
The present-day town of Frederica was part of a land grant to Boneny Bishop by William Penn in 1681. The location at a bend along the Murderkill River was originally known as Indian Point and later became known as Johnny Cake Landing. The waterfront was surveyed in 1758 and the area where most shipping activity occurred became known as Goforth's Landing.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Cortlandt Van Dyke…
Date?Historical American Buildings Survey W. Gould White, …
Date?Historical American Buildings Survey W. Gould White, …
Date?Historical American Buildings Survey W. Gould White, …
Date?NORTH SIDE - John Dill Store, 2 Market Street
Date?NORTH SIDE AND WEST FRONT - John Dill Store, 2 Market…
Date?WEST FRONT - John Dill Store, 2 Market Street
Date?Mordington, Canterbury-Milford Road
Date?John Dill Store, 2 Market Street
Date?Old Barratt's Chapel (Methodist), Route 113Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Frederica. 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 Frederica.
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 Frederica’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 588 and 1,073 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Frederica’s Wikipedia page.
Frederica had its own post office from 1793 to 1902.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Frederica is more historic than 89% 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.
Three places: the Barratt's Chapel (listed 1972), the Barratt Hall (1973) and the Frederica Historic District (1977).
17% of Frederica’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Delaware town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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