Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listings are the Harder Hotel and the Scribner Town Hall. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1966 on, and the census since 1880.
Scribner dates its founding to 1870 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
Scribner was named for publishing magnate Charles Scribner I. Today, Scribner remains a town of trade, even though the railroad no longer serves the town.
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 Scribner’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Scribner.
Scribner was platted in 1870 by Lucius D. Richards when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named for publishing magnate Charles Scribner I. Today, Scribner remains a town of trade, even though the railroad no longer serves the town.
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 hereGeorge Dern is born here
In the archiveScribner, Neb
Born hereDon Boll is born here
Born hereGregg Olson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Scribner. 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 Scribner.
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 Scribner’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 193 and 1,066 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Scribner’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Scribner’s post office has been open since 1874.
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.
In 1870, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Scribner’s post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1880 counted 193 people here.
Two places: the Harder Hotel (listed 1989) and the Scribner Town Hall (2010).
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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