Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #60 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Creswell Public Library and Civic Improvement Club Clubhouse. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1910.
The Creswell post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1909.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Creswell is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #60 of 142 in Oregon. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds 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 Creswell’s 1.8 sits near the middle of its state (43% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Creswell’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Creswell. 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 Creswell.
From Wikipedia’s history of Creswell.
The first store opened at Creswell in 1872, and a town sprang up around it. The city was named for John Creswell, 23rd United States Postmaster General. A post office has been in operation in Creswell since 1872.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMark Few is born hereFire 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.
1920Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Grew from 367 people in 1910 to 5,641 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Creswell’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Creswell post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1909.
Creswell is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #60 of 142 in Oregon. 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 Creswell Public Library and Civic Improvement Club Clubhouse (listed 2008).
11% of Creswell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1999.
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 (4), 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.
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