Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns · #16 of 23 in North Dakota. What drives it
Most of Hay Creek Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: maps from 1951 on.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hay Creek Township is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #16 of 23 in North Dakota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
North Dakota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical North Dakota town has 2.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hay Creek Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Hay Creek Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hay Creek Township.
A small rural community with the name Hay Creek sprang up in this township in the 1890s. Since that time, the city of Bismarck has absorbed much of the township, including the remnants of the community of Hay Creek.
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 Hay Creek Township. 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 Hay Creek Township.
Nobody well known was born in Hay Creek Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Hay Creek Township is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #16 of 23 in North Dakota. 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.
2% of Hay Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 2003.
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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
