Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Pleasant Hope was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1884 on and the census since 1880.
The Pleasant Hope post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Pleasant Hope’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pleasant Hope. 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 Pleasant Hope.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pleasant Hope.
A post office called Pleasant Hope has been in operation since 1851. The name is indicative of the early settlers' optimism concerning the future.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Grew from 80 people in 1880 to 657 in 2020, 8 times over.
9 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pleasant Hope’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Pleasant Hope itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Pleasant Hope post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 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.
