Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1926 on, and the census since 1830.
Jasper dates its founding to 1807 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jasper is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Jasper’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Jasper’s history is told.
Jasper’s post office has been open since 1827. Three 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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveJasper (Township)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Jasper.
The town was formed in 1837 from parts of the Towns of Troupsburg and Canisteo, but yielded territory to form part of the Town of Greenwood in 1848. Noted ceramics artist Frederick Walrath was born in Jasper in 1871, and grew up there. He died after being stricken while on a visit home in 1921.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Jasper, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Ou> Sherwood Among the historic old towns of Jasper county which were destroyed during the war, and are now remembered only for what they once were, is the town of Old Sherwood which was built at the junction of the main traveled road running west from Webb City and the road running north from what is now called Bell Center. This town was founded in 1847. In 1856 it was formally platted and at the beginning of the Civil war had perhaps two hundred inhabitants, several good stores and a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
As in the seventies, the building of the three lines of railroad transformed Jasper county from an unimportant country community to a great wideawake business center, so during the nineties, three electric street railways were built and they wrought wonderful changes, both in a business and social way. The three electric roads built and operated were the Joplin Electric Street Railway Company, the South West Missouri Electric Railway Company and the Jasper County Electric Railroad.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jasper. 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 Jasper.
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 Jasper’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 657 and 1,850 people in every census since 1830.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jasper’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Jasper itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1807, according to Wikidata. Jasper’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1830 counted 657 people here.
Jasper is more historic than 71% 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.
42% of Jasper’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
1873
