Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #188 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Fairland was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1892 on.
The Fairland post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairland is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #188 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 Fairland’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 Fairland’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairland. 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 Fairland.
Fairland had its own post office from 1871 to 1908.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fairland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fairland is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 25,396 per the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1871. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 23,681 to 25,396 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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 SurveyNobody well known was born in Fairland itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Fairland post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Fairland is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #188 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.
3% of Fairland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
2023
2023
2019
