Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #217 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Ashland was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.
Ashland dates its founding to 1853 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
Ashland was named for the Ashland estate of Kentucky Congressman Henry Clay in Lexington, Kentucky.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashland is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #217 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ashland’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Ashland’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashland. 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 Ashland.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ashland.
Ashland was founded in 1853. It was named for the Ashland estate of Kentucky Congressman Henry Clay in Lexington, Kentucky. Clay was instrumental in the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which allowed Missouri's admission as the 24th state.
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 Survey
In the archiveNick Phillips, eighty-one years old with wife in front of house. Ashland, Missouri. Misso…One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1922Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Ashland’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 371 people in 1880 to 4,747 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ashland’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1853, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ashland’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1880 counted 371 people here.
Ashland is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #217 of 247 in Missouri. 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.
2% of Ashland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 2006.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
1936
1936
2004