Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 64 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1880.
Bainbridge dates its founding to 1831 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Bainbridge’s history is told.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Bainbridge.
Bainbridge was laid out in 1831. This town was named after the prominent war hero of the time, William Bainbridge. A post office has been in operation at Bainbridge since 1835. The town was incorporated in 1847. The nearby National Natural Landmark of Big Walnut Creek was designated in 1985.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Bainbridge, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Believing that merchandising offered special inducements for him, he accordinglv opened a dr}- goods store at Bainbridge, this county, in 1869, which he conducted in a very successful manner until 1879. becoming known during that decade as one of the leading merchants of this locality. In 1872 he erected a substantial brick block in Bainbridge.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Doctor Starr received an excellent education in the home schools and, being ambitious to enter the medical profession, he began studying to that end, first entering the drug business in Bainbridge in 1870, building up a verv satis factorv business which continued to increase from year to year. In point of resistance he is the oldest citizen in Bainbridge and he has done much for the town's advancement along all lines.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bainbridge. 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 Bainbridge.
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 Bainbridge’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 406 and 746 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bainbridge’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Bainbridge itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1831, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bainbridge’s post office opened in 1835, and the census of 1880 counted 420 people here.
Two places: the Bainbridge Historic District (listed 2019) and the Baker's Camp Covered Bridge (2024).
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
2016
2016
