Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of St. Helena was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the SS. Peter and Paul's Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church. Its Register listing is the SS. Peter and Paul's Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church. Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1990.
St. Helena dates its founding to 1905 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1990.
The town was founded in 1905 by Hugh MacRae as a grape growing community and he sought out Italian immigrants to come to Pender to grow grapes and make wine, St. Helena was advertised in Europe and the message would come to America and get a 10 acre farm and it is named after for Queen Elena
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 St. Helena’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of St. Helena.
The town was founded in 1905 by Hugh MacRae as a grape growing community and he sought out Italian immigrants to come to Pender to grow grapes and make wine, St. Helena was advertised in Europe and the message would come to America and get a 10 acre farm and it is named after for Queen Elena
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Helena. 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 St. Helena.
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.
Between 321 and 417 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Helena’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in St. Helena itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1905, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1990 counted 321 people here.
One place: the SS. Peter and Paul's Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church (listed 2017).
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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