Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Campton was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listings are the Hurst, William L., Law Office and the Wolfe County High School. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1911 on.
The Campton post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1870. Another post office, Swittville (1853), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
From Wikipedia’s history of Campton.
Campton was a camp town with a small creek, Swift Creek (named after Jonathan Swift of the legend of Swift's silver mine), running through the town. Swift supposedly buried treasure in the area which has never been recovered.
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 archivePSM V78 D434 Natural bridge of swift camp creek near
In the archiveFarmers and townspeople in center of town on Court Day, Compton [i.e. Campton], Ky2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1911PSM V78 D434 Natural bridge of swift camp creek near1940Farmers and townspeople in center of town on Court Da…
1940Farmers and townspeople in center of town on Court Da…
1940Farmers and townspeople in center of town on Court Da…
1940Farmers and townspeople in center of town on Court Da…
1940Farmers and townspeople in center of town on Court da…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 Campton’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Nobody well known was born in Campton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Campton’s post office has been open since 1867. Another post office, Swittville, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Campton post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1870.
Two places: the Hurst, William L., Law Office (listed 1993) and the Wolfe County High School (2013).
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
