Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1870.
Mount Summit dates its founding to 1854 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.
Mount Summit was named for its lofty elevation.
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 Summit’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Summit.
Mount Summit was platted in 1854. It was named for its lofty elevation. A post office has been in operation in Mount Summit since 1869.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Summit. 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 Summit.
Between 108 and 424 people in every census since 1870.
15 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Summit’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Mount Summit itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mount Summit’s post office opened in 1869, and the census of 1870 counted 108 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 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.
