More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #196 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Pleasant Hills was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 2000.
The Pleasant Hills post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bagley (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,851 in 20002020 census: 3,998165 years
How historic is Pleasant Hills?
D
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Pleasant Hills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Pleasant Hills’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pleasant Hills is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #196 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pleasant Hills’ 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 Pleasant Hills’ 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Pleasant Hills’ past
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 Pleasant Hills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1893Gunpowder sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pleasant Hills.
The story so far
Pleasant Hills, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pleasant Hills yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pleasant Hills is a census-designated place (CDP) in Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,379 at the 2010 census, up from 2,851 in 2000. There is no post office with the designation "Pleasant Hills"; most of the residents have either Fallston or Kingsville addresses and consider themselves as belonging to those communities .
Its first post office opened in 1861. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,379 to 3,998 (+18%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Pleasant Hills, 1861 to 1945
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Pleasant Hills post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pleasant Hills rank for history?
Pleasant Hills is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #196 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.
How old are the homes in Pleasant Hills?
2% of Pleasant Hills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1995.
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, 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.
2020
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