Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 28 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1830.
The Irvine post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Estill (1813), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Irvine was named for Col. William Irvine, a pioneer settler of Madison County.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Irvine is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age 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 Irvine’s 110 sits above most of its state (69% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 30 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% 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 Irvine’s history is told.
Peaked at 3,640 in 1930; 2,360 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Irvine’s Wikipedia page.
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 Irvine.
Gen. Green Clay established the town of Irvine on 20.5 acres (8.3 ha) of his land on January 28, 1812, four years after Estill County was separated from Madison County. It was named for Col. William Irvine, a pioneer settler of Madison County. The post office was established in 1813, and the city was incorporated by the state legislature in 1849.
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 hereJohn Galt is born here
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kentucky - Estill County - Irvine - ED 33-1, ED 3…
Born hereHarry Dean Stanton is born here
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 Irvine. 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 Irvine.
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.
1920Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn 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 Irvine’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Irvine’s post office has been open since 1822. Another post office, Estill, 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.
The Irvine post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Irvine is more historic than 92% 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.
Three places: the Riverview Hotel (listed 1992), the Irvine Historic Business District (2000) and the Irvine Grade School (2000).
31% of Irvine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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), 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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