Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Long Beach School. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1930.
Long Beach dates its founding to 1921 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.
Long Beach was named for the sand beaches of Lake Michigan.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Long Beach is more historic than 54% 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 Long Beach’s 9.0 sits near the middle of its state (61% 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 Long Beach’s history is told.
Peaked at 2,740 in 1970; 1,189 people lived here in 2020.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Long Beach’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Long Beach.
Long Beach was incorporated in 1921 as a resort town. It was named for the sand beaches of Lake Michigan.
The Hoover-Timme House (1929), John and Isabel Burnham House (1934), and Lowell E. and Paula G. Jackson House (1938), were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
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 Long Beach. 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 Long Beach.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Long Beach itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1921, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1930 counted 436 people here.
Long Beach is more historic than 54% 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 Long Beach School (listed 2019).
34% of Long Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2019
