Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and Rectory. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1980.
The Taos post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Taos is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Taos’ 16.1 sits above most of its state (79% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 Taos’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Taos.
Taos was laid out in 1849. The city was named after Taos, New Mexico. A post office called Taos was established in 1848, and remained in operation until 1907.
The St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and Rectory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Taos. 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 Taos.
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 Taos’ 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 759 and 1,150 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Taos’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Taos itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Taos had its own post office from 1848 to 1907.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Taos post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Taos is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. 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.
One place: the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and Rectory (listed 2016).
14% of Taos’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 the Library of Congress (3), 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.
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