Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Zortman was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: maps from 1943 on.
The Zortman post office opened in 1903, 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 Zortman’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Zortman.
Prospectors arrived in the Zortman area in 1868. About 2,000 men came to Zortman in 1884, when Pike Landusky and Dutch Louie discovered gold. By 1893, Pete Zortman and a partner owned the Alabama Mine. Other mines in the area were the Ruby Mine and the Little Ben Mine. It is estimated that local mines had produced $125 million in gold by 1949.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Zortman. 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 Zortman.
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.
Zortman’s post office has been open since 1903.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Zortman post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Zortman Ranger Station Historic District (listed 2025).
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
