Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Elton was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listings are the Elton United Methodist Church and the S. A. Pennington House. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1920.
The Elton post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Elton’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,598 in 1970; 992 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elton’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Elton.
The wife of pioneer settler J. M. Henderson is said to have chosen the name "Elton" for her home town from a book in which she read of an English town named Elton. That was probably the town on the northeast coast of England in County Durham near Middlesbrough. Elton, Louisiana, was incorporated as a village in 1911.
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.
BuiltS. A. Pennington House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elton. 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 Elton.
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 Elton post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Two places: the Elton United Methodist Church (listed 1994) and the S. A. Pennington House (1994).
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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