Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Berlin was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1979 on, and the census since 1930.
The Berlin post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lens (1918), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
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 Berlin’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Berlin.
Berlin was incorporated as a town in 1910. A post office has been in operation at Berlin since 1910. The community was named after Berlin, in Germany. Upon American entry into World War I, the town was renamed "Lens" due to Anti-German sentiment. The name "Berlin" was soon afterwards restored.
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 archiveFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingh…
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.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Berlin.
1979Moultrie sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Berlin.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/2498/0fc30d225c35e8128003-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Berlin’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 250 and 595 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Berlin’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Berlin itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Berlin’s post office has been open since 1910. Another post office, Lens, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Berlin post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.
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