Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Park Hills dates its founding to 1927 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Park Hills is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Park Hills’ 1,754 sits above most of its state (99% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 555 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Park Hills’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Park Hills. 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 Park Hills.
From Wikipedia’s history of Park Hills.
The area of present-day Park Hills was subdivided and settled c. 1845 on land owned by Messrs. Coran, Corry, and Spencer. This community remained quite small until D. Collins Lee and Robert Simmons developed the area in 1926 and incorporated the present city the next year.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Between 1,275 and 4,076 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Park Hills’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Park Hills itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1927, according to Wikidata. the census of 1930 counted 1,275 people here.
Park Hills is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Park Hills Historic District (listed 2008).
31% of Park Hills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2019
2016