Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Deans was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: old-book passages.
The Deans post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Deans’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Deans.
Deans originated from its location on both Crosswicknung Trail (Georges Road) and Lawrence Brook. Dams were built on the brook, creating Deans Pond.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Deans, cut from the printed page as they were published.
About 1810 Abraham built a sawmill at what is now known as Deans Station, on the Pennsylvania railroad. Aaron, Abraham's son. built a grist mill adjacent to the sawmill. In 1845 John H. Martin built several houses and opened a store there, and from that time imtil after the railroad station was established the hamlet was known as Martinsville. In 1852 Mr. Martin and J. C. Powers operated distilleries at and near Deans.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Deans post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 Wikipedia and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
