Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1880.
The Scranton Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.
Scranton Township was named after Scranton, Pennsylvania.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Scranton Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Scranton Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Scranton Township’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,572 in 1890; 653 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Scranton Township’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Scranton Township.
Scranton was founded in 1871 as a coal town. It was named after Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The first post office in Scranton was established in September 1872.
As of 1890, Scranton was reported to be one of many Kansas coal mining towns that were sundown towns, meaning that African Americans were not allowed to live there.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Scranton Township. 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 Scranton Township.
Nobody well known was born in Scranton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Scranton Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Scranton Township is more historic than 48% 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.
32% of Scranton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1976.
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), 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.
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