Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #4 of 37 in Delaware. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Lightship WLV 539, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 693 buildings between them. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1870.
Lewes dates its founding to 1631 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lewes is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #4 of 37 in Delaware. 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 Lewes’ 1,997 sits above most of its state (100% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 700 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereDavid Hall is born here
Born hereDaniel Rodney is born here
Born hereHiram R. Burton is born here
In the archiveStung by the Sea Asp the Tanker Herbert L. Pratt lay partially submerged off Lewes June 3…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltFort Miles Historic District is built
In the archiveLewes, Delaware
In the archiveUntitled photo
In the archiveHAER DEL,3-LEW,8- (sheet 1 of 1) - H. W. Hocker Manufacturing Company Factory, 224 Front …From Wikipedia’s history of Lewes.
Lewes was the site of the first European settlement in Delaware, a whaling and trading post that Dutch settlers founded on June 3, 1631, and named Zwaanendael (Swan Valley). The colony had a short existence, as a local tribe of Lenape Indians killed all 32 settlers in 1632.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1951Untitled photo1968HAER DEL,3-LEW,8- (sheet 1 of 1) - H. W. Hocker Manuf…
1968H. W. Hocker Manufacturing Company Factory, 224 Front…
1968H. W. Hocker Manufacturing Company Factory, 224 Front…
1968H. W. Hocker Manufacturing Company Factory, 224 Front…
1968H. W. Hocker Manufacturing Company Factory, 224 Front…
1968H. W. Hocker Manufacturing Company Factory, 224 Front…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lewes. 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 Lewes.
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.
1891Sheet 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 Lewes’ page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,090 people in 1870 to 3,303 in 2020, 3 times over.
14 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lewes’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Lewes’s post office has been open since 1803.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1631, according to Wikidata. Lewes’ post office opened in 1803, and the census of 1870 counted 1,090 people here.
Lewes is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #4 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.
10 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Maull House (listed 1970, the first), 2 historic districts, the Lewes Historic District and the Fort Miles Historic District, with 693 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 2 structures. 700 historic buildings in all.
20% of Lewes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 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 (12), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (11), 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.
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