Rising Sun’s post office opened in 1802, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #42 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: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: the first Rising Sun post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rising Sun’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rising Sun is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #42 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rising Sun’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 Rising Sun’s 14.5 sits above most of its state (71% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). 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 Rising Sun’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town which became known as Rising Sun was located in the disputed “Nottingham Lots” along the border between colonial Pennsylvania and Maryland. This area was claimed by William Penn and settled by Quakers in 1702 over the objection of Maryland. When Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon conducted a survey of the order in the 1760s, Rising Sun was found to be located in Maryland.
Passages that mention Rising Sun, 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 277Read the page →
Read the text
curred in the history of the Nottingham church till the arrival of Whitefield, at whicli time the meeting-house stood on the brow of the hill a sliort distance northwest of the village of Rising Sun. After this disruption of tlie church (1741), the new side (as those who adliered to the doctrine of Whitefield were called) erected another meeting-house in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
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 281Read the page →
Read the text
During this time the congregations maintained their separate organizations: the First, or Old Side, worshiping in the church near the road northwest of the village of Rising Sun, and the New Side, in the meeting-house which stood in the graveyard on the north side of the road west of the creek In 1796 the congregations having been reunited resolved to build a new meeting-house, but the}' disagreed about its location, and it was not until 1800 — presbytery, at their re-
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
Rising Sun, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. 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.
Rising Sun’s post office has been open since 1802.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Spring MeadowSunrise Estates
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Rising Sun’s history
What year was Rising Sun founded?
The Rising Sun post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Rising Sun rank for history?
Rising Sun is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Rising Sun?
Three places: the West Nottingham Meetinghouse (listed 1976), the Mercer Brown House (1987) and the Jeremiah Brown House and Mill Site (1987).
How old are the homes in Rising Sun?
11% of Rising Sun’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (13), 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.
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