Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Aurora was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 41 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1922 on, and the census since 1900.
Aurora dates its founding to 1893 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aurora is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Oregon towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Oregon town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Aurora’s 398 sits above most of its state (98% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 41 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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 Aurora’s history is told.
The 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Aurora.
Before being incorporated as a city, the area was the location of the Aurora Colony, a religious commune founded in 1856 by William Keil and John E. Schmit. Keil named the settlement after his daughter.
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.
BuiltAurora Colony Historic District is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Aurora. 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 Aurora.
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 sheet.
1922Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn 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 Aurora’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 122 people in 1900 to 1,133 in 2020, 9 times over.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Aurora’s Wikipedia page.
Aurora’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Aurora Mills, 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).
In 1893, according to Wikidata. Aurora’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1900 counted 122 people here.
Aurora is more historic than 60% 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.
One place: the Aurora Colony Historic District (listed 1974).
8% of Aurora’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
Date?
2022
