Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Stanley was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Its Register listings are the Mountrail County Courthouse and the Great Northern Railway Underpass. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1910.
The Stanley post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1902.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stanley is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold 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 Stanley’s 9.5 sits near the middle of its state (60% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Stanley’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Stanley.
Stanley was platted in 1902. The Mountrail County Courthouse was built in 1914.
In 1935, Stanley was the site of one of the deadliest tornadoes in North Dakota's recorded history. The storm claimed four lives and injured more.
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.
In the archiveTheatre. Stanley, North Dakota
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Stanley. 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 Stanley.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Stanley’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 518 people in 1910 to 2,321 in 2020, 4 times over.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Stanley’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Stanley post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1902.
Stanley is more historic than 43% 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.
Two places: the Mountrail County Courthouse (listed 1978) and the Great Northern Railway Underpass (1997).
8% of Stanley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 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 Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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