Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Perryman was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listings are the St. George's Parish Vestry House and the Griffith House. Below: 2 old photos and papers.
The Perryman post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Spesutia (1828), Perrymansville (1838) and Bush River (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perryman is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. 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 Perryman’s 9.2 sits above most of its state (69% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Perryman’s history is told.
Perryman’s post office has been open since 1880. Three 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Perryman.
St. George's Parish Vestry House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Amtrak's Northeast Corridor high-speed rail line runs through the community; however, Amtrak and MARC trains do not stop as there is no station.
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.
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 Perryman’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Perryman post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Perryman is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. 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.
Two places: the St. George's Parish Vestry House (listed 1976) and the Griffith House (1978).
8% of Perryman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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2014
