Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Isaac Newton Clark House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1890.
The Sutton post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
Sutton was named after the town of Sutton, Massachusetts.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sutton is more historic than 64% 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 Sutton’s 7.6 sits near the middle of its state (44% 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 Sutton’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sutton. 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 Sutton.
From Wikipedia’s history of Sutton.
Sutton was laid out in 1871 when the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was extended to that point. It was named after the town of Sutton, 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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
20222022-09-11 16 06 21 Aerial view southward across nort…
2014RFD Sutton NE 2014
2010Sutton, Nebraska Saunders Ave 5
2010Sutton, Nebraska Saunders Ave 4
2010Sutton, Nebraska Saunders Ave 3
2010Sutton, Nebraska Saunders Ave 2
2010Sutton, Nebraska Saunders Ave 1
2010Clark's Pond Park 2
2010Clark's Pond Park 1
2005NEMap-doton-SuttonNo 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 Sutton’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 1,252 and 1,702 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sutton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Sutton post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Sutton is more historic than 64% 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 Isaac Newton Clark House (listed 1983).
36% of Sutton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), 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.
