Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #197 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Burtonsville was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 2000.
The Burtonsville post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burtonsville is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #197 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds 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 Burtonsville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burtonsville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Burtonsville. 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 Burtonsville.
Burtonsville’s post office has been open since 1871.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Burtonsville.
In colonial times, the area was referred to as the Patuxent Hundred and later the Eastern Branch Hundred, a community comprising approximately 100 inhabitants. Prince George's County Court recorded that on September 27, 1699, Thomas Wells and Thomas Pindell were appointed to be the overseers of Patuxant Hundred.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Burtonsville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 7,305 and 9,498 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Burtonsville’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Burtonsville post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Burtonsville is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #197 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.
2% of Burtonsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (6), 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) 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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