Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1800.
Germantown dates its founding to 1794 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1800.
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 Germantown’s history is told.
Peaked at 407 in 1900; 146 people lived here in 2020.
20 censuses, 1800–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Germantown’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Germantown.
Germantown was platted in 1794 and named after German immigrants. The city was incorporated by the Virginia state legislature in 1795. A post office called "Germantown" has been in operation since 1817.
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.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kentucky - Bracken County - Germantown - ED 12-8
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Germantown. 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 Germantown.
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 Germantown’s page.
Retake this view · +15In 1794, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Germantown’s post office opened in 1817, and the census of 1800 counted 81 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.
1880
2004
