Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Colerain was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1953. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 172 buildings. Below: maps from 1982 on and the census since 1880.
The Colerain post office opened in 1802, 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 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colerain’s history is told.
Peaked at 373 in 1970; 217 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colerain’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Colerain yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Colerain is a town in Bertie County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Colerain had a population of 217.
Its first post office opened in 1802. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 204 to 217 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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 Colerain. 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 Colerain.
The Colerain post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Colerain Historic District (listed 2020).
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), 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) 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.
