Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Marcus Hook Plank House. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1900.
Marcus Hook dates its founding to 1655 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marcus Hook is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Marcus Hook’s 4.8 sits above most of its state (67% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereBill Day is born here
Born hereAlbert Dutton MacDade is born here
In the archiveCombination atlas map of Delaware County, Pennsylvania
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Delaware County - Marcus Hook - ED…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveAmerican Viscose Corporation
Born hereMickey Vernon is born here
Born hereCurt Weldon is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marcus Hook. 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 Marcus Hook.
Peaked at 5,324 in 1920; 2,454 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Marcus Hook’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Marcus Hook.
The earliest inhabitants of Marcus Hook were members of the Lenape Native American tribe and their indigenous ancestors, whose succeeding cultures occupied present-day Marcus Hook and surrounding areas for thousands of years.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Marcus Hook, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the justices ordered James Hendrickson to repair the bridge over Chester Creek, and also the same day the court " further agreed that the said James Hendrickson shall build a bridge over Marcus Hook creek in the Queen's Road, where the old bridge now is, and erect it 10 foot broad and so long as is sufficient and necessary for the same to extend, and to build it all of white oak timber completely finished." The roads,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
delphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad from Gray's Ferry to Ridley Creek. The Reading company being owners of a large tract of land on the river near Marcus Hook, assumed control of the railroad on Front Street, finished its extension across Chester Creek, and connected it with its branch purchased from the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company. The Chester and Dela-
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.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Marcus Hook’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1655, according to Wikidata. Marcus Hook’s post office opened in 1813, and the census of 1900 counted 1,209 people here.
Marcus Hook is more historic than 95% 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 Marcus Hook Plank House (listed 2017).
44% of Marcus Hook’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (6), 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 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.
1881
1917
1917