Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #76 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it
Most of Erlanger was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 173 buildings. Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1900.
The Erlanger post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Greenwood Station (1877) and Greenwood Lake (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Erlanger is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #76 of 142 in Kentucky. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Erlanger’s 87.0 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 173 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Erlanger’s history is told.
Erlanger had its own post office from 1882 to 1920. 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 Erlanger.
Erlanger was founded in the 1880s. The city was named after the Parisian family bank Emile Erlanger & Co. and its founder, Baron Frédéric Émile d'Erlanger, who helped finance the town's early development. In current usage, the name is pronounced in an anglicized way, with neither a French nor German accent. Nearby Elsmere was originally known as "South Erlanger".
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 Survey
Born hereSteven Doan is born here
Born hereLexis King is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Erlanger. 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 Erlanger.
Grew from 453 people in 1900 to 19,611 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Erlanger’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Erlanger post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Erlanger is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #76 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.
One place: the Erlanger Proper Subdivision Historic District (listed 2002).
8% of Erlanger’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky 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 (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2024
2021
2020
2020
2020
2004
