Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #247 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Mitchellville was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1990.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mitchellville is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #247 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 Mitchellville’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: our sources. 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 Mitchellville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mitchellville. 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 Mitchellville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mitchellville.
Mitchellville was named for John Mitchell (1788–1862), who owned Essington Hall, the plantation that encompassed much of the area. He and his wife Mary Lanham are buried in the Mitchell Family Cemetery on Mitchellville and Mount Oak Road. This location is now South Bowie, and the Bowie CDP 08775
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
In the archive3 Cherry Hill Map
In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer April 13, 1936 10-45 A.…
Born hereAustin Freeman is born here
Born hereJames Robinson is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
20202020-08-26 15 13 44 View east along Maryland State Ro…
20202020-08-26 12 57 20 View west along Maryland State Ro…
20202020-08-26 12 55 02 View east along Maryland State Ro…
20202020-08-18 12 21 36 View south along Maryland State R…
20202020-08-18 12 08 12 View east along Maryland State Ro…
20202020-08-18 10 47 04 View west along Maryland State Ro…
20202020-08-18 10 41 20 View west along Maryland State Ro…
2019Holy Family
20192019-07-25 13 50 00 View east along Interstate 595 an…
20192019-07-25 13 39 54 View west along Interstate 595 an…
20192019-05-22 13 53 01 View west along Interstate 595 an…
20162016-09-13 15 32 01 View east along Interstate 595 an…
20162016-09-02 15 43 03 View east along Maryland State Ro…
2004MDMap-doton-MitchellvilleNo 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 Mitchellville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 9,611 and 12,593 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mitchellville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Mitchellville is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #247 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.
0.3% of Mitchellville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (18), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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