Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #14 of 23 in North Dakota. What drives it
Most of Horace was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1950.
The Horace post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1882.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Horace is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #14 of 23 in North Dakota. Its age holds 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 Horace’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: 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 Horace’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Horace.
A post office has been in operation at Horace since 1875. The city is named after Horace Greeley of Chappaqua, New York, editor of the New York Tribune. Greeley encouraged western settlement with the motto "Go West, young man".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Horace. 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 Horace.
Grew from 190 people in 1950 to 3,085 in 2020, more than tenfold.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Horace’s Wikipedia page.
Horace’s post office has been open since 1875.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Horace post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1882.
Horace is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #14 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 Horace’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 2006.
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 (4), 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.
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