Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Bohning Memorial Auditorium. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1890.
The Ravenna post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Beaver Creek (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Ravenna was named after the city of Ravenna, Italy, and many of Ravenna's street names commemorate other Italian places.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ravenna is more historic than 67% 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 Ravenna’s 7.2 sits near the middle of its state (42% of Nebraska 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 Ravenna’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ravenna. 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 Ravenna.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ravenna.
Ravenna was founded in 1886 when the Burlington Railroad was extended to that point. It was named after the city of Ravenna, Italy, and many of Ravenna's street names commemorate other Italian places.
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.
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 628 and 1,703 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ravenna’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Ravenna’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Beaver Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Ravenna post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Ravenna is more historic than 67% 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 Bohning Memorial Auditorium (listed 2023).
45% of Ravenna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1950.
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 (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) 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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