Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Canton dates its founding to 1796 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Canton is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Canton’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Canton’s history is told.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Canton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Canton is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 1,723 at the 2020 census.
Canton was established in 1796. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,976 to 1,735 (-12%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Canton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first school in Canton township was taught in the winter of 1801-02, Loren Kingsbury teacher. In 1803 a school house was built in the central part of the township by Samuel Griffin and the first school therein taught by Miss Emma Segar. The next teacher in this building was Isaac Chaapel in 1804. The first school in Alba was taught in the winter of 1805-06 by Miss Martha Wilson. She also taught the summer of 1806. On the 6th of June she was compelled to close
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
" The first school taught in Canton township was in the winter of 1801-2, Loren Kingsbury, teacher. A Miss Segur taught in Canton about the year 1805, in a schoolhouse built by Capt. Samuel Griflan.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
June 4, 1818. A house of worship was built, in 1820, a little below the present village of Canton, and regularly occupied till about 1830. Of the original members of the church, three have outlived the fifty-eight years that have elapsed since its organization. They are Irad Wilson and Betsy Rockwell, of Alba, and Minerva Rogers, of Canton.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Canton, origin same as township; for many years known as ‘‘Canton Corners’’; Jonathan Prosser, the first settler, in 1795.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereHollis Dann is born here
Born hereJohn Brown is born here
In the archiveGhost town once supported by tannery near Canton, Pennsylvania
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Canton. 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 Canton.
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 Canton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 710 and 2,154 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Canton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Canton’s post office has been open since 1825.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1796, according to Wikidata. Canton’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1870 counted 710 people here.
Canton is more historic than 76% 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.
47% of Canton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1943.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (4), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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