Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Harpers Ferry was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1929 on, and the census since 1910.
Harpers Ferry dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.
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 Harpers Ferry’s history is told.
Peaked at 361 in 1940; 262 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harpers Ferry’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Harpers Ferry.
Harpers Ferry was platted in 1852; it was then called Winfield. In 1860, the name was changed to Harper's Ferry (with an apostrophe-s) after primary settler David Harper. On December 24, 1901, Harpers Ferry was officially incorporated.
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 archiveTrain depot, Harpers Ferry, Iowa (circa 1913)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Harpers Ferry. 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 Harpers Ferry.
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 Harpers Ferry’s page.
Retake this view · +15Harpers Ferry’s post office has been open since 1861. Another post office, Wexford, 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).
In 1852, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Harpers Ferry’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1910 counted 297 people here.
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 (5), 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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