Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #61 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 167 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1890.
The Ashburn post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashburn is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #61 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Georgia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Georgia town has 10.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ashburn’s 399 sits above most of its state (85% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 169 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ashburn’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ashburn.
The town of Marion was founded in 1888, and changed its name to Ashburn when it was incorporated in 1890. Ashburn was designated seat of Turner County when it was established in 1905. The community was named after W. W. Ashburn, a pioneer citizen.
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.
In the archiveAkin Service Station Garage, Complete One-Stop Service Station Pure Oil Products, U.S. Ro…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashburn. 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 Ashburn.
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.
1912Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn 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 Ashburn’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 403 and 4,827 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ashburn’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Ashburn’s post office has been open since 1889.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Ashburn post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Ashburn is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #61 of 263 in Georgia. 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.
6 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Turner County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first), and 4 historic districts with 167 contributing buildings. 169 historic buildings in all.
15% of Ashburn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 National Register of Historic Places (6), 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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