Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Harvard Carnegie Library. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1880.
The Harvard post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
Harvard was named after Harvard University, in Massachusetts.
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 Harvard’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Harvard. 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 Harvard.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1897Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Harvard.
Harvard was founded in 1871 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named after Harvard University, in Massachusetts.
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.
Born hereRobert Spencer is born here
Born hereIda A. Bengtson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born herePaul Revere is born here
In the archiveHarvardaaf-1945
In the archiveHarvard-30mar19992 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Harvard’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.
Between 704 and 1,261 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harvard’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Harvard post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Harvard Carnegie Library (listed 2022).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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