Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Palmyra was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1810.
The Palmyra post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, West Palmyra (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palmyra is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Palmyra’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Palmyra’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1920, then more than doubled.
22 censuses, 1810–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Palmyra’s Wikipedia page.
Palmyra’s post office has been open since 1817. Another post office, West Palmyra, 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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Palmyra yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Palmyra is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,924 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1817. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,986 to 1,924 (-3%).
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.
Born hereJames S. White is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archivePalmyra General StoreOne decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Palmyra. 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 Palmyra.
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 Palmyra’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Palmyra post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Palmyra is more historic than 43% 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.
9% of Palmyra’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 (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) 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.
1984
1984
