2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 7 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1880 on and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Stearns post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Stearns’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stearns is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stearns’ overall grade.
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 Stearns’ 55.1 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±15.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Stearns’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Stearns yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Stearns is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in McCreary County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,365 at the 2020 census. It was founded by Justus Smith Stearns.
Its first post office opened in 1902. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,416 to 1,365 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Stearns, 1829 to 1902
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Stearns post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Stearns rank for history?
Stearns is more historic than 48% 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.
What is on the National Register in Stearns?
Two places: the Stearns Administrative and Commercial District (listed 1988) and the Stearns Golf Course (2015).
How old are the homes in Stearns?
19% of Stearns’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±15.0 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
2010
2004