Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Wallins Creek was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: maps from 1919 on and the census since 1930.
The Wallins Creek post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1925.
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 Wallins Creek’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wallins Creek. 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 Wallins Creek.
From Wikipedia’s history of Wallins Creek.
Wallins Creek began life as a coal mining town in 1925; the mine was owned by the Wallins Creek Coal Corporation. The Wallins Creek Baptist Church was established in 1855 with 30 members.
Wallins Creek is home to the Wallins Elementary School, which has been in use since the 1940s and has won several awards in sports and academics.
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.
Between 156 and 903 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wallins Creek’s Wikipedia page.
Wallins Creek’s post office has been open since 1866.
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 Wallins Creek post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1925.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
