Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Blankenship-Hodges-Brown House. Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1880.
Paragon dates its founding to 1852 (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 Paragon’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Paragon.
Paragon was founded in the early 1850s about the same time the first store was opened in the community in 1852. A post office has been in operation at Paragon since 1868.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Paragon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
is also located in Jackson township. Alaska, the post-office of Ashland township, and Lewisville, one half mile east of Alaska, in the same township. Atlanta, a small village located in the southeast part of Green township. Paragon, located in Ray township, is a railroad village and quite a trading point for the southwestern portion of the county. Matthew's Station, a station on the railroad, three and one half miles south of Mooresville, in Brown township. Last but not least is Mooresville, lo-
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.
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 Paragon. 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 Paragon.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1910Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Between 306 and 663 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Paragon’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Paragon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Paragon’s post office has been open since 1868.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1852, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Paragon’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1880 counted 306 people here.
One place: the Blankenship-Hodges-Brown House (listed 2005).
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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