Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Lee and Gottliebe Fritz House. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1900.
The Gordon post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1885.
Gordon was named for John Gordon, a pioneer settler.
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gordon is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Nebraska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Nebraska town has 16.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Gordon’s 11.6 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Nebraska towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings 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.
Peaked at 2,223 in 1960; 1,504 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gordon’s Wikipedia page.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1910Gordon depot
1910Merchant Hotel
1910East Main, looking north
1910West Main, looking south
1910Scene on Main St
1910East Main, looking south
1911Second St
1911N.E. Main St. Gordon, Nebr
1911N.W. Main St
1914M.E. Church
1915Bird's eye view of Gordon, Nebr
1915Bird's eye view of Gordon, Nebr
1916The way they ship potatoes from Gordon, Neb. A 30 can…
1919Nebraska soddiesGordon’s post office has been open since 1884.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Gordon.
Gordon was incorporated as a village in 1885 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named for John Gordon, a pioneer settler. Gordon was incorporated in November 1885.
In the Lakota language, Gordon is known as tȟáȟča wakpá otȟúŋwahe, meaning "deer river city".
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 archiveGordon depot
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gordon. 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 Gordon.
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 Gordon’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.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Gordon post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1885.
Gordon is more historic than 72% 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 Lee and Gottliebe Fritz House (listed 2003).
44% of Gordon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 the Library of Congress (14), 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.
