Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1880.
Brooksburg dates its founding to 1843 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
Brooksburg was named for Noah Brooks, one of its founders.
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 Brooksburg’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Brooksburg.
Brooksburg was platted in 1843. It was named for Noah Brooks, one of its founders. Brooksburg was incorporated as a town on August 24, 1878.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brooksburg. 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 Brooksburg.
Between 72 and 150 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brooksburg’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Brooksburg itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Brooksburg had its own post office from 1880 to 1957.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1843, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Brooksburg’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1880 counted 148 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 (2), 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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