Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Garland was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Garland Grange Hall. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1820.
Garland dates its founding to 1802 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.
Garland was named for the first settler, Joseph Garland, who came from Salisbury, New Hampshire.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Garland is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Maine towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Maine town has 15.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Garland’s 12.2 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Garland’s history is told.
Garland’s post office has been open since 1819. Another post office, West Garland, 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).
Peaked at 1,498 in 1860; 1,026 people lived here in 2020.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Garland’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Garland.
Garland was settled in 1802 and incorporated in 1811. It was named for the first settler, Joseph Garland, who came from Salisbury, New Hampshire.
The township was originally granted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to Williams College, which sold it to a series of proprietors in 1798. It was originally called "Lincoln" after one of them, Levi Lincoln.
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 SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Garland. 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 Garland.
The 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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1802, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Garland’s post office opened in 1819, and the census of 1820 counted 275 people here.
Garland is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. 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 Garland Grange Hall (listed 1975).
9% of Garland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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2023
2015
2009
2009
