Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #94 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Randallstown was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Choate House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1970.
The Randallstown post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Harrisonville (1843) and Mount Wilson (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Randallstown is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #94 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds 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 Randallstown’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (41% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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.
Randallstown’s post office has been open since 1824. Two 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Randallstown’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Randallstown. 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 Randallstown.
From Wikipedia’s history of Randallstown.
Randallstown was founded in the 1700s by two brothers from England, Thomas and Christopher Randall. They introduced a tavern on Liberty Road serving travelers. In 1880, Randallstown had a population of 100. The Winands Road Synagogue Center was active from 1968 to 2019.
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 archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey E. H. Pickering, Photographer September 1936 - Branton…
Born hereMichele S. Jones is born here
Born hereToni-Ann Williams is born here
Born hereAngel Reese is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2021Randallstown-Vax-Site-11
2021Randallstown-Vax-Site-10
20202020-07-28 12 17 45 View east along Maryland State Ro…
20192019-07-18 17 23 32 View south along Interstate 695 (…
20192019-07-18 16 58 21 View north along Interstate 695 (…
20192019-07-17 15 06 27 View south along Interstate 795 (…
20192019-06-05 15 32 27 View south along Interstate 795 (…
20162016-07-12 07 04 33 View west along Maryland State Ro…
2007Randallstown High School
2007CHOATE HOUSE, BALTIMORE COUNTY
2004MDMap-doton-RandallstownNo 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 Randallstown’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.
Between 25,927 and 33,683 people in every census since 1970.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Randallstown’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Randallstown post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Randallstown is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #94 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 Choate House (listed 1989).
4% of Randallstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (12), 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.
