Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it
16 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 34 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1800.
The Falmouth post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Falmouth is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Falmouth’s 200 sits above most of its state (81% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 49 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% 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 Falmouth’s history is told.
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 Falmouth.
Possibly settled as early as 1780, Falmouth was laid out by John Waller (1758–1823) and formally established by the state assembly in 1793. Waller named the new settlement after his native Falmouth, Virginia. It was incorporated as a city in 1856.
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.
BuiltCharity's House is builtBuiltBishop House is builtBuiltLeslie T. Applegate House is built
In the archiveAdvertisement for Red Star Deluxe Bus Serivice The Lexington Herald August 6, 1923
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveOldham home 3312 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2013House at 206 Park Street in
2013George W. Jameson House site in
2013Frederick Reed House site in
2013Falmouth original cemetery site
2013Elzey Hughes House site in
2013County Named, 1798 historical marker
2013Chipman House in
2013Charity's House site in
2013Brick house near rail line in
2013Bishop House in
2009Falmouth KY USA
2008Falmouth Downtown
2004KYMap-doton-FalmouthEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Falmouth. 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 Falmouth.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Falmouth’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 40 and 2,593 people in every census since 1800.
20 censuses, 1800–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Falmouth’s Wikipedia page.
The Falmouth post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Falmouth is more historic than 86% 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.
16 listings: 15 buildings, among them the Bishop House (listed 1983, the first), and 1 historic district, the Central Falmouth Historic District, with 34 contributing buildings. 49 historic buildings in all.
17% of Falmouth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (15), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (16), Wikipedia, 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.
