Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #28 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Crum Road Bridge, the Woodsboro and Frederick Turnpike Company Tollhouse and the Harris Farm. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1880.
The Walkersville post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1892.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Walkersville is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #28 of 261 in Maryland. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Walkersville’s 17.1 sits above most of its state (73% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 Walkersville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Walkersville. 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 Walkersville.
Walkersville’s post office has been open since 1827.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Walkersville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Walkersville is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, Walkersville had a population of 6,156.
Its first post office opened in 1827. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,800 to 6,156 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2022Jeddo Coal 85
2022Jeddo 85
2022Harris Farmhouse Walkersville MD2
2015Plein Air Painter
2015Grossnickle Farm
2015Barn on Daysville Road
2010Harris Farmhouse Walkersville, MD1
2009Airborne Batimore to Minneapolis
2008Walkersville High School Building
2008Old Walkersville High School
2007Journey Through Hallowed Ground Byway - Fountain Rock…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 sheet.
1911Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Walkersville’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.
Grew from 160 people in 1880 to 6,156 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Walkersville’s Wikipedia page.
The Walkersville post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1892.
Walkersville is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #28 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.
Three places: the Crum Road Bridge (listed 1978), the Woodsboro and Frederick Turnpike Company Tollhouse (1979) and the Harris Farm (1994).
16% of Walkersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (3), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
