Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #83 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Aberdeen was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.
The Aberdeen post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1892. Two smaller post offices, Hull's Cross Roads (1813) and Hall's Cross Roads (1822), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aberdeen is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #83 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Aberdeen’s 11.6 sits above most of its state (70% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 20 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% 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.
Aberdeen’s post office has been open since 1862. Two other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Aberdeen. 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 Aberdeen.
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.
1904Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Aberdeen.
Aberdeen was named after Aberdeen, Scotland, by immigrating Scots.
The James B. Baker House, Chestnut Ridge, Griffith House, Poplar Hill, Sophia's Dairy, and Swansbury are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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 hereWilliam Benjamin Baker is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveAdministrative building, Ordnance Training Center, Aberdeen, Maryland (71117)
Born hereMichael D. Griffin is born here
Born hereJason Palmer is born here
Born hereJai Lewis is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1930Administrative building, Ordnance Training Center, Ab…Postcard
c. 1930Arriving at the Ordnance Training Center, Aberdeen, M…Postcard
c. 1930Blue Bell Tourist Court (81807)Postcard
c. 1930Clay's Motel, U. S. Route 40, Aberdeen, Maryland (854…Postcard
c. 1930Clay's Motel, U. S. Route 40, Aberdeen, Maryland (890…Postcard
c. 1930Company Street with new Army Phantom Automobiles, Ord…Postcard
c. 1930El Dorado Motel, Pulaski Hwy., Rt. No. 40, 20 miles n…Postcard
c. 1930Greetings from Ordnance Training Center, Aberdeen, Ma…Postcard
c. 1930Holly Hill Motel, 26 miles north of Baltimore, 3 mile…Postcard
c. 1930Holly Hill Motel, U.S. Route 40, Aberdeen, Maryland (…Postcard
c. 1930Homer E. Turner (Chartered Life Underwriter) Life Ins…PostcardNo 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 Aberdeen’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 101 people in 1880 to 16,254 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Aberdeen’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Aberdeen post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1892.
Aberdeen is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #83 of 261 in Maryland. 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.
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Poplar Hill (listed 1976, the first). 20 historic buildings in all.
8% of Aberdeen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (11), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
