Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #15 of 42 in Nevada. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Little Church of the West and the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" Sign, The. Most of Paradise was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1970.
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Paradise is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #15 of 42 in Nevada. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Paradise ranks #329 on History.
Few Nevada towns list much on the Register (a typical Nevada town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Paradise’s 0.1 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Nevada towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Paradise’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Paradise’s history is told.
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 Paradise.
The southern part of the Las Vegas Valley was referred to as Paradise Valley as early as 1910, owing to a high water table that made the land particularly fertile for farming. County commissioners established a Paradise school district in 1914.
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.
BuiltLittle Church of the West is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Built"Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" Sign, The is built
In the archiveTheOpheliasOne decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2009Standardgasstation
2009Paradise, NV, USA - panoramio (5)
2009Paradise, NV, USA - panoramio (4)
2009McNeon
2009McGlittering
2009MGM Mirage Corporate Support Center
2009Luxor
2009Las Vegas Blvd, win win win!
2009Harrahs
2009Harley Davidson Cafe
2009GeminiJets1400ap
2009Fatburger neon
2008Paradise, NV - Welcome to Las Vegas Sign
2008DIRT LOT
2007Rob & Matt @ Fruit Machine
2005Vegas
2004The Mirage at NightEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Paradise. 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 Paradise.
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 Paradise’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 24,477 and 223,167 people in every census since 1970.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Paradise’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Paradise is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #15 of 42 in Nevada. 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.
Two places: the Little Church of the West (listed 1992) and the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" Sign, The (2009).
0.4% of Paradise’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for a Nevada town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (18), 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.
