Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #93 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Brookmont was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 2000.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookmont is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #93 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Brookmont’s 8.2 sits above most of its state (67% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brookmont. 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 Brookmont.
From Wikipedia’s history of Brookmont.
Before becoming a neighborhood, Brookmont's one mile loop was used as a velodrome for local bikers. What is now the neighborhood green was originally a part of the Glen Echo Railroad, connecting Glen Echo and Cabin John to Washington DC.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCLARA BARTON PARKWAY, AERIAL VIEW OF BROOKMONT PEDESTRIAN OVERPASS LOOKING NORTHEAST. - G…
In the archiveFRONT, SOUTHEAST ELEVATION, LOOKING NORTH - Bonfield's Service Station, 6124 MacArthur Bo…
In the archiveAERIAL VIEW AT LITTLE FALLS DAM LOOKING NORTHEAST. - George Washington Memorial Parkway, …3 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1968CLARA BARTON PARKWAY, AERIAL VIEW OF BROOKMONT PEDEST…1987FRONT, SOUTHEAST ELEVATION, LOOKING NORTH - Bonfield'…
1987FRONT, SOUTHEAST ELEVATION, LOOKING NORTH, CLOSER VIE…
1987FRONT, SOUTHEAST ELEVATION, LOOKING NORTH, CLOSER VIE…
1987FRONT, SOUTHEAST ELEVATION, LOOKING NORTHWEST - Bonfi…
1987GENERAL VIEW, LOOKING WEST - Bonfield's Service Stati…
1987VIEW OF ORIGINAL AUTO REPAIR PIT, LOCATED JUST SOUTHW…No 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 Brookmont’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.
Between 3,202 and 3,751 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brookmont’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Brookmont 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).
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.
Brookmont is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #93 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.
One place: the Glen Echo Park Historic District (listed 1984).
6% of Brookmont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1965.
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.
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