Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Fred Krause House. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1920.
The Hazen post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1913.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hazen is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Hazen’s 4.1 sits near the middle of its state (50% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Hazen’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hazen.
A post office has been in operation at Hazen since 1885. A. D. Hazen, an early postmaster, gave the settlement its name. Hazen was laid out in 1913, when the railroad was extended to that point. The Fred Krause House, now on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1916.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2020Fred Krause House NRHP 92000344 Mercer County, ND
2009Post office in Hazen, North Dakota 7-16-2009
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2009Hazen, North Dakota
2004NDMap-doton-HazenEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hazen. 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 Hazen.
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 520 and 2,818 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hazen’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Hazen itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Hazen post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1913.
Hazen is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. 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.
One place: the Fred Krause House (listed 1992).
12% of Hazen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 Wikimedia Commons (19), Wikidata (1), 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) 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.
