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A−History
History · Harrington

Harrington’s post office opened in 1859, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #10 of 37 in Delaware. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 121 buildings. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.

1859first post office
3on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Harrington’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Harrington began

When was Harrington founded?

1859

The Harrington post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Clark's Corner (1857), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 745 in 18802020 census: 3,774167 years

How historic is Harrington?

A−

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Harrington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Harrington’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrington is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #10 of 37 in Delaware. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harrington’s overall grade.
Founding era1859, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194029.3% of homes (±6.7) · typical DE town 5.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 123 historic buildings, 320 per 10,000 residents · typical DE town 29.4 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
Delaware towns of 2,500+ (37)Ahead of 75%

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 Harrington’s 320 sits above most of its state (77% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 123 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Harrington’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Downtown Harrington Historic District takes in 121 historic buildings.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1919, drew every building in Harrington.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1906–1933.On the map since 19185 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1993. Watch Harrington change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 123 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
123
each building in a district counts
first listed
2014
St. Stephen's P.E. Church
St. Stephen's P.E. ChurchSt. Paul A.M.E. ChurchDowntown Harrington Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
St. Stephen's P.E. ChurchBuilding
St. Paul A.M.E. ChurchBuilding
All 3 listings
Downtown Harrington Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2019

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Harrington, building by building, 1885–1919

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.

Harrington fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Harrington, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s5 items
Harrington High School1906Harrington High SchoolWeiner Avenue1906Weiner AvenueWeiner Avenue1906Weiner AvenueMethodist Episcopal Church1906Methodist Episcopal ChurchP.B. & W. R.R. station1906P.B. & W. R.R. station
1930s13 items
HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Baynard House, Lewis Road (moved to MD-Chesapeake City Vicinity)1933HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Baynard House, L…HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Baynard House, Lewis Road (moved to MD-Chesapeake City Vicinity)1933HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Baynard House, L…HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Baynard House, Lewis Road (moved to MD-Chesapeake City Vicinity)1933HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Baynard House, L…HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Baynard House, Lewis Road (moved to MD-Chesapeake City Vicinity)1933HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Baynard House, L…HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Baynard House, Lewis Road (moved to MD-Chesapeake City Vicinity)1933HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Baynard House, L…HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Baynard House, Lewis Road (moved to MD-Chesapeake City Vicinity)1933HABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Baynard House, L…CONCRETE COLUMN AND IRON GATE - Vogl House, State Road 2771933CONCRETE COLUMN AND IRON GATE - Vogl House, State Roa…CONCRETE FENCE - Vogl House, State Road 2771933CONCRETE FENCE - Vogl House, State Road 277CONCRETE STATUARY - Vogl House, State Road 2771933CONCRETE STATUARY - Vogl House, State Road 277EAST FRONT - Vogl House, State Road 2771933EAST FRONT - Vogl House, State Road 277EAST FRONT AND NORTH END - Vogl House, State Road 2771933EAST FRONT AND NORTH END - Vogl House, State Road 277EAST FRONT FROM NORTHEAST - Vogl House, State Road 2771933EAST FRONT FROM NORTHEAST - Vogl House, State Road 277EAST FRONT FROM SOUTHEAST - Vogl House, State Road 2771933EAST FRONT FROM SOUTHEAST - Vogl House, State Road 277
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Harrington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Harrington.

Read it all →

Harrington was named for Hon. Samuel Maxwell Harrington, a former chancellor of the state. The town developed at a railroad junction along the Delaware Railroad and served as a rural trading center.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Harrington, 1837 to 1986

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Born hereNapoleon B. Thistlewood is born here
  3. 1857Post officeThe Clark's Corner post office opens
  4. 1859Post officeThe Clark's Corner post office closes
  5. 1859Post officeThe Harrington post office opens
  6. 1869Born hereAnnie Arniel is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1906In the archiveHarrington High School
  9. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1933In the archiveHABS DEL,1-HAR.V,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Baynard House, Lewis Road (moved to MD-Chesapeake Ci…
  11. 1986Born hereBryan Robinson is born here
On the map

Harrington on the map, 1918 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Harrington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Harrington on the 1918 USGS mapHarrington on the 1944 USGS mapHarrington on the 1955 USGS mapHarrington on the 1981 USGS mapHarrington on the 1993 USGS map1918Harrington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Harrington.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Harrington High School
Retake this viewHarrington High School, 1906

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Harrington’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Harrington, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000188019001920194019601980200020203,774

Grew from 745 people in 1880 to 3,774 in 2020, 5 times over.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harrington’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Harrington

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Annie ArnielAmerican suffragist · b. 1869
B
Bryan RobinsonPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1986
Napoleon B. ThistlewoodUnion Army officer, politician · b. 1837
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Harrington’s post office has been open since 1859. Another post office, Clark's Corner, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Clark's Corner
1857–1859
Harrington
1859–today
18501940today
1cemetery inside Harrington
Hollywood

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Harrington’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHarrington High School: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Harrington’s history

What year was Harrington founded?

The Harrington post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Harrington rank for history?

Harrington is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #10 of 37 in Delaware. 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.

What is on the National Register in Harrington?

Three places: the St. Stephen's P.E. Church (listed 2014), the St. Paul A.M.E. Church (2016) and the Downtown Harrington Historic District (2019).

How old are the homes in Harrington?

29% of Harrington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Delaware town; the median home was built in 1967.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (13), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 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.