Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1880.
Mount Carmel dates its founding to 1837 (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 Mount Carmel’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Carmel.
Mount Carmel was founded in 1837. The town took its name from the Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church.
A post office was established at Mount Carmel in 1840, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1906.
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.
In the archiveBrady Clarkson family reunion 1911
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyPassages that mention Mount Carmel, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Thus we find the names of the descendants of our pioneer settlers of the Parish of Mount Carmel, such as Bradley, Andrews, Allen, Peck, Dickerman, Ives, Bellamy, Bassett, Munson, Tuttle, Perkins, Kimberley, Hitchcock, Brockett, Doolittle, Todd, and a host of others who have sought careers in different avenues of life, with the result that when now riding through the Parish of Mount Carmel, the individual descendants occupying the homes of their ancestors can be counted on the fingers of the hands. The rich inheritance of fathers to sons, of historic family associations, cannot endure where such short-lived customs of inheritance
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
wide. This "layout" does not appear to have been complete until 1722, continuing through New Haven bounds where the north boundary was by the farm of Daniel x\ndrews. Broad ideas were held by pioneers of those days. The beautiful street laid out through the village of Mount Carmel, that for more than one mile has a straight and uninterrupted view, before 1800 was built up with two-story colonial houses with two rooms fronting the street, which was six rods wide. A few still remain, landmarks of a century's growth. Many have disappeared within the memory of the writer. The street has been narrowed to
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Carmel. 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 Mount Carmel.
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 Mount Carmel’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 76 and 182 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Carmel’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, Mount Carmel, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1837, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mount Carmel’s post office opened in 1840, and the census of 1880 counted 182 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, 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.
2016