Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Burns Harbor was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2008. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1970.
Burns Harbor dates its founding to 1966 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1970.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burns Harbor is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Burns Harbor’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burns Harbor’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1970 and 2000, then more than doubled.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Burns Harbor’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Burns Harbor.
Burns Harbor was founded in 1966. The town took its name from a local port which was named for the harbor's promoter Randall W. Burns.
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 Survey
In the archive19660529 01 South Shore Line @One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2026US 12 west becoming a divided highway - Burns Harbor,…
2026US 12 west at IN 149 south - Burns Harbor, IN - Septe…
2025Burns International Harbor
2022Shoreline west 0437
2022Shoreline west 0436
2014Farmers State Bank, circa 1970
2014Burns Harbor, Indiana
201220120218 03 South Shore Line @
2007Villageinburnsharbor arial
2006Mittal
2006INDU SP Beach 05The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Burns Harbor.
1940Porter sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Burns Harbor.
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 Burns Harbor’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Burns Harbor itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1966, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1970 counted 1,284 people here.
Burns Harbor is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. 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% of Burns Harbor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 2008.
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 (15), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
1967
1968
1968