Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Elkton was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 18 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1840.
The Elkton post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1820.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elkton is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold 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 Elkton’s 151 sits above most of its state (76% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 29 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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 Elkton’s history is told.
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.
1893Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Elkton.
The city was founded by Major John Gray and established by the state assembly in 1820. It is named for the presence of an elk herd that utilized a nearby waterway and natural salt lick. It was formally incorporated in 1843.
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 hereDavid Walker is born here
Born hereBenjamin Helm Bristow is born hereBuiltMcReynolds House is built
Born hereJames Clark McReynolds is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveEdwards HallOne decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elkton. 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 Elkton.
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 Elkton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 474 and 2,062 people in every census since 1840.
16 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elkton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Elkton post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1820.
Elkton is more historic than 68% 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.
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Edwards Hall (listed 1974, the first), and 1 historic district, the Elkton Commercial Historic District, with 18 contributing buildings. 29 historic buildings in all.
4% of Elkton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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