Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1930 on, and the census since 1830.
Milan dates its founding to 1824 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milan is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
New Hampshire towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Hampshire town has 9.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Milan’s 7.5 sits near the middle of its state (44% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Milan’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1960, then more than doubled.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Milan’s Wikipedia page.
Milan’s post office has been open since 1833. Two other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Milan.
Originally named "Paulsburg" in 1771 after Paul Wentworth, the town was incorporated on December 16, 1824. In that year, Governor Levi Woodbury authorized a name change to "Milan".
Prior to 1820, there were but few inhabitants. In 1819, the population was approximately fourteen; ten years passed and the number had increased four-fold.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveOWNER OF THIS OLD MODEL-T IS ATTENDING A SUMMER AUCTION INOne decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2026Nansen 02 2026
2026Nansen 01 2026
2026Milan NH 9-25-26
2017View From Nansen Ski Jump
20172nd View From Nansen Ski Jump
2016MilanNH School
2016MilanNH MunicipalBuilding
2013From the Snowy Banks of the Androscoggin
2013Cristal Falls
2012Hillcrest Cemetery Milan 5
2012"Wildflowers, north of Milan," July 1977, New Hampshi…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Milan. 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 Milan.
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 Milan’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.
Nobody well known was born in Milan itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1824, according to Wikidata. Milan’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1830 counted 243 people here.
Milan is more historic than 68% 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 Nansen Ski Jump (listed 2019).
15% of Milan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (12), 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.
