Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Garysburg was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the Garysburg United Methodist Church and Cemetery. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1880.
The Garysburg post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Dupreesville (1810), Peebles Tavern (1818) and Blakely Depot (1833), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Garysburg’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1950 and 1960, then grew 4-fold.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Garysburg’s Wikipedia page.
Garysburg’s post office has been open since 1838. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Garysburg.
The Garysburg United Methodist Church and Cemetery and Mason-Hardee-Capel House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1848, Garysburg was a stop on the Petersburg Railroad.
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.
BuiltGarysburg United Methodist Church and Cemetery is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Garysburg. 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 Garysburg.
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.
1888Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Garysburg post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Garysburg United Methodist Church and Cemetery (listed 1985).
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 Wikimedia Commons (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), 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.
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