Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #125 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it
Most of Claryville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1936 on.
The Claryville post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bird Woods (1852) and Pond Creek (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Claryville is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #125 of 142 in Kentucky. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Claryville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (12% of Kentucky 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 Claryville’s history is told.
Claryville had its own post office from 1876 to 1919. Two other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Claryville.
Claryville was named for the Clary family of pioneer settlers. W T Clary was the postmaster of Claryville Post Office. Previously, the area was known as Pond Creek and the Post Office was Pond Creek Post Office.
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 Claryville. 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 Claryville.
Nobody well known was born in Claryville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Claryville post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Claryville is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #125 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.
3% of Claryville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
