Perryville dates to 1622, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #47 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1816.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Perryville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perryville is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #47 of 261 in Maryland. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Perryville’s overall grade.
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 Perryville’s 20.2 sits above most of its state (75% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1622.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
What stands out about Perryville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Perryville was first settled by Europeans in 1622, when Edward Palmer was granted a patent for a settlement on what is now Garrett Island. During the 17th century, Lord Baltimore granted George Talbot 31,000 acres (130 km2) of land, which included the Perryville area. Before incorporation (1882), the settlement was known as Lower Ferry (circa 1695), Susquehanna (circa 18th century), and was finally named Perryville after Mary Perry, the wife of John Bateman.
Passages that mention Perryville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cecil County, Maryland, and the early settlements around the head of Chesapeake Bay and on the Delaware River, with sketches of some of the old families of Cecil County1881 · page 226Read the page →
Read the text
Head of Elk, "he being a poor man and much incumbered with people passing and repassing to the said mill along the Queen's road," which then ran from the lower ferry at Perryville via North East and crossed the Big Elk Creek at or near where the bridge now stands at Mitchell's mill, and ran down the peninsula east of the heads of Back Creek, Bohemia and Sassafras rivers.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Perryville, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1622, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Perryville’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1880 counted 143 people here.
How does Perryville rank for history?
Perryville is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #47 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.
What is on the National Register in Perryville?
Three places: the Rodgers Tavern (listed 1972), the Perry Point Mansion House and Mill (1975) and the Woodlands (1979).
How old are the homes in Perryville?
11% of Perryville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1908
1917
1917
1917
1917
1917
1917
1917
1918
