Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.01 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1920.
The Rensselaer Falls post office opened in 1851, 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 Rensselaer Falls’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Rensselaer Falls.
A six-foot (1.8 m) drop in the river attracted early settlers to the available water power. The community was first called "Tateville" and later "Canton Falls." The current name was established by the post office in 1851.
The Congregational Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rensselaer Falls. 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 Rensselaer Falls.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Rensselaer Falls’ 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 265 and 375 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rensselaer Falls’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Rensselaer Falls itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Rensselaer Falls post office opened in 1851, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1865
2006
2006
