Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Paradise Hill was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1970.
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 Hill’s history is told.
Peaked at 154 in 1980; 73 people lived here in 2020.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Paradise Hill’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Paradise Hill.
Paradise Hill is a relatively new town, having originated in 1954 on the shore of Tenkiller Ferry Lake. There were 47 permanent homes by 1962. The town had already incorporated and owned its own water system. It more than doubled its physical size by 1969 by annexing adjacent land.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Paradise Hill. 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 Hill.
Nobody well known was born in Paradise Hill itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
