Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Jenison was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973.
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 Jenison’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Jenison.
The area that Jenison occupies was first inhabited by Peoria and Odawa indigenous peoples, and later populated by white settlers in 1836 as a lumber site along the Grand River.
Jenison gained its name from the Jenison family's sawmill, which opened in 1864. A post office called Jenisonville was established in 1872, and the name was changed to Jenison in 1887.
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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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