Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Distant post office opened in 1917, 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Distant’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Distant.
A post office called Oakland was established in 1841 and continued operation until 1907. The post office called Distant that remains was established in 1917. Oakland P.O. appears in the 1876 Atlas of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. The founding of the town of Oakland, formerly Texas, is detailed in Chapter 15 of the 1883 History of Armstrong County Pennsylvania.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Distant itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Distant post office opened in 1917, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
