Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Lawrence G. Miller (Lawrence G. Miller on en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #72 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1870.
The Paw Paw post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Paw Paw is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #72 of 701 in Michigan. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Paw Paw’s 9.1 sits above most of its state (82% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 Paw Paw’s history is told.
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 year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJo Labadie is born here
In the archiveExterior view of house
Born hereJohn H. Waller is born here
Born hereLoretta Long is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveKLSC 85 at Paw Paw, December 1988
In the archiveStrand Theater, Michigan StreetWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Paw Paw yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Paw Paw is a village in and the county seat of Van Buren County, Michigan. The population was 3,362 as of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1834. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,534 to 3,362 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Paw Paw. 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 Paw Paw.
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 Paw Paw’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.
Between 1,391 and 3,534 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Paw Paw’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Paw Paw post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Paw Paw is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #72 of 701 in Michigan. 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.
27% of Paw Paw’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.4 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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