Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 33 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1933 on and old-book passages.
The Peninsula post office opened in 1837, 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Peninsula.
Initial settlement in Peninsula began in 1818, followed by Herman Bronson officially platting the village in 1837. During its prime canal-era years leading up to 1887, the bustling port served as an active industrial and transit hub, supporting multiple quarries, boatyards, mills, five hotels, and 14 taverns.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Peninsula, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Arthur L. Conger. On July 4, 1889, Colonel and Mrs. Conger presented to Boston Town- .ship the fine soldiers' monument which stands in the village of Peninsula at its western border. Peninsula has an extensive flour-mill and, in the southern part of the village, a large stone-quaiTy of a fine-gi'ained, white .sand-stone, from which mill-stones are made.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
mercantile pursuits. After several years of training in the stores of the village of Boston, in 1853 Mr. Wood embarked in business for himself at Peninsula, with which place he was identified for over a half century. He served in many of the township and town offices, for over twenty years was postmaster, and was the promoter and backer of many of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Probably the first building in Peninsula village was a log structure built on the east side of the river, near where Abel Thompson resides, by Alonzo Dee, in about 1818. Not far from the same time, John Robinson, James Brannan and one or two others built at or near Peninsula. Brannan was located a halfmile west of the village proper ; though, owing
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Stow Township March 6, 1835. Upon the death of his father, he engaged in various occupations until the spring of 1866, when he bought the saw-mill at Peninsula, which his father had built, since which time he has been engaged in farming and lumbering in Boston Township. He has 160 acres of valuable improved land, and gives the dairying business
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 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Peninsula’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peninsula’s post office has been open since 1837.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Peninsula post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
6 listings: 2 historic districts, the Valley Railway Historic District and the Peninsula Village Historic District, with 33 contributing buildings, and 4 structures. 33 historic buildings in all.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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