Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns · #79 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it
Most of Burlington was built recently: 0.1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 68 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 2000.
Burlington dates its founding to 1799 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 2000.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burlington is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #79 of 142 in Kentucky. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Burlington’s 41.1 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 74 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1933Detail of northeast rear addition. - Piatt's Landing,…
1933Detail of west side. - Piatt's Landing, Upper East Be…
1933East front of northeast rear addition. - Piatt's Land…
1933East side court yard looking southwest. - Piatt's Lan…
1933North rear. - Piatt's Landing, Upper East Bend Bottoms
1933South front looking northeast. - Piatt's Landing, Upp…
1933South front looking northwest. - Piatt's Landing, Upp…
1933Southwest corner of south front. - Piatt's Landing, U…
1933Vic Farm south side, looking towards the north. - Vic…
1933Vick Farm context view, looking towards the northwest…
1933Vick Farm front side, looking towards the east. - Vic…
1933Vick Farm north side, looking towards the south. - Vi…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Burlington. 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 Burlington.
From Wikipedia’s history of Burlington.
Burlington was incorporated in 1824. However, today Burlington is unincorporated due to the annulment of the city charter in 1923. It is one of the two county seats in Kentucky that are unincorporated, along with Whitley City, the seat of McCreary County.
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.
Born hereArthur B. Rouse is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyIn the archiveDetail of northeast rear addition. - Piatt's Landing, Upper East Bend BottomsNo 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 Burlington’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 10,779 and 17,318 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Burlington’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Burlington’s post office has been open since 1820.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1799, according to Wikidata. Burlington’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 2000 counted 10,779 people here.
Burlington is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #79 of 142 in Kentucky. 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.
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Robert Chambers House (listed 1975, the first), and 1 historic district, the Burlington Historic District, with 68 contributing buildings. 74 historic buildings in all.
0.1% of Burlington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1998.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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) 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.
