Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #3 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 263 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
Crisfield dates its founding to 1663 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Crisfield is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #3 of 261 in Maryland. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Crisfield’s 1,088 sits above most of its state (96% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 272 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maryland - Somerset County - Crisfield - ED 20-9,…
In the archiveMaryland
In the archiveFMIB 35000 Scrape Boats
In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey D. H. Smith, Photographer 1940 EAST GABLE - Makepeace,…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFire 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.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Crisfield.
The Annamessex, a Native American tribe related to the Pocomoke people, were indigenous to the region. Their small fishing village was known as Annemessex Neck. The nearby Annemessex River is also named after them.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Crisfield. 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 Crisfield.
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 Crisfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 4,116 in 1920; 2,475 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Crisfield’s Wikipedia page.
Crisfield’s post office has been open since 1868.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.
In 1663, according to Wikidata. Crisfield’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1880 counted 986 people here.
Crisfield is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #3 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.
7 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Make Peace (listed 1975, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Crisfield Historic District and the Cullen Homestead Historic District, with 263 contributing buildings. 272 historic buildings in all.
26% of Crisfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1971.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, 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.
1917
1920
