Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Greenville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2012. Its Register listing is the Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church. Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1880.
Greenville dates its founding to 1816 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenville is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Greenville’s 6.3 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Greenville’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1920, then grew 6-fold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenville’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereRoscoe Miller is born here
BuiltSimpson Memorial United Methodist Church is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Greenville.
Greenville was platted in 1816 by Andrew Mundell and Benjamin Haines some three years before Floyd County was established. During the first three years of Greenville's development, the village was a part of Clark County.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Greenville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Scioto and the Little Miami, was unsettled until after the treaty of Greenville, except at Manchester, some twelve miles above Maysville, Ky., in Adams county, which was laid out by General Massie, in 1790; it M-as thus early settled, partly from motives of greater security to the surveying operations in which Massie was engaged. Though this colony was organized in the time of hottest Indian warfare, in the favorite
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Fourth Division, Sixteenth Army Corps. Nothing of interest oc¬ curred until about 1 o’clock p. m. of the 18th, when they were fired upon by guerrillas from the left bank of the river, near Island Eighty-two, and about three miles above the town of Greenville, Miss. The “ Crescent City,” on which the regiment was embarked, was at the time about one mile in advance of the fleet. The enemy opened on the boat when within about 150 yards of the shore, with three pieces of artillery and a heavy fire of musketry. Two com-
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 Greenville. 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 Greenville.
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.
In 1816, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Greenville’s post office opened in 1819, and the census of 1880 counted 394 people here.
Greenville is more historic than 55% 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.
One place: the Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church (listed 2004).
5% of Greenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 2012.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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2012