Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #54 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 1,033 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1960.
Dundalk dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1960.
Dundalk was named after the town of Dundalk in County Louth, Ireland.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dundalk is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #54 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 Dundalk’s 163 sits above most of its state (86% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 1,077 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% 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.
Five 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dundalk’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dundalk.
The area now known as Dundalk was explored by John Smith in 1608. Up until this time, the area was home to the tribes of the Susquehanna.
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
BuiltU.S. Post Office and Courthouse is built
Born hereJoseph J. Minnick is born hereWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dundalk. 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 Dundalk.
Between 62,306 and 85,377 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dundalk’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1856, according to Wikidata. Dundalk’s post office opened in 1818, and the census of 1960 counted 82,248 people here.
Dundalk is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #54 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.
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse (listed 1977, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Dundalk Historic District and the Day Village Historic District, with 1,033 contributing buildings. 1,077 historic buildings in all.
11% of Dundalk’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
