Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of St. Stephen was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Church of St. Stephen-Catholic. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1920.
St. Stephen dates its founding to 1914 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.
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 St. Stephen’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of St. Stephen.
St. Stephen was incorporated in 1914. The city was founded by Slovene immigrants. The city contains one property listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the 1903 Church of St. Stephen and its 1890 rectory.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Stephen. 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 St. Stephen.
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.
Between 229 and 860 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Stephen’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in St. Stephen itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Brockway, 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).
In 1914, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. St. Stephen’s post office opened in 1867, and the census of 1920 counted 246 people here.
One place: the Church of St. Stephen-Catholic (listed 1982).
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 Wikidata (1), 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.
