Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #100 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it
Most of Francisville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Its Register listings are the John Moore House, the Abe Souther House and the Rev. Robert E. Kirtley House. Below: maps from 1914 on.
Francisville dates its founding to 1819 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1830.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Francisville is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #100 of 142 in Kentucky. Its age holds 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 Francisville’s 2.8 sits below most of its state (28% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Francisville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Francisville. 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 Francisville.
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 SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Francisville.
Francisville was founded in 1819, when 77 members of the Bullitsburg Baptist Church decided to establish a church closer to their homes. The Sand Run Baptist Church was built for a cost of $2100. A post office, general store, school, hotel, and tobacco warehouse soon developed around the church.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Francisville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Francisville had its own post office from 1830 to 1945. Another post office, Sandrun, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1819, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Francisville’s post office opened in 1830.
Francisville is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #100 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.
Three places: the John Moore House (listed 1978), the Abe Souther House (1987) and the Rev. Robert E. Kirtley House (1989).
0.0% of Francisville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 2004.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
