Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #117 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Landover was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Its Register listing is the Beall's Pleasure. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1970.
The Landover post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Landover is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Landover’s 2.4 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Landover. 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 Landover.
Landover had its own post office from 1889 to 1962.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Landover.
The former CDPs of Landover, Dodge Park, Kentland, and Palmer Park, defined as such by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 1990 U.S. census, were consolidated into the Greater Landover CDP as of the 2000 U.S. census. This amalgamated area was renamed the Landover CDP as of the 2010 U.S. census.
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.
BuiltBeall's Pleasure is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer 2-15 P. M. Oct. 12, 193…
Born hereLen Bias is born here
In the archivePenn Central GG1 4910 with Train 121, The Midday Congressional, at Landover, MD on Decemb…
Born hereKev Brown is born here
In the archiveLANDOVER SUBSTATION. LANDOVER, PRINCE GEORGES CO., MD Sec, 1201, MP 129.00. - Northeast R…
Born hereRodney McGruder is born here
Born hereDarren Waller is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1970s. 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 Landover’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.
Grew from 5,597 people in 1970 to 25,998 in 2020, 4 times over.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Landover’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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.
The Landover post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Landover is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Beall's Pleasure (listed 1979).
4% of Landover’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (1), 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.
1936
1936
1968