Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Nicholas · CC BY 2.0More historic than 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Iddings-Baldridge House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1850.
Milesburg dates its founding to 1793 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milesburg is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Milesburg’s 18.1 sits above most of its state (81% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 Milesburg’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Milesburg. 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 Milesburg.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJames Knox Polk Hall is born here
In the archiveAtlas of Centre County, Pennsylvania
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Milesburg.
Milesburg and nearby Miles Township were named after Samuel Miles, who co-owned the Centre Furnace Iron Works, along with Colonel John Patton and John Dunlop.
Milesburg is located near the site of a former Lenape Indian settlement known as Bald Eagle's Nest.
Iddings-Baldridge House in Milesburg was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Between 478 and 1,309 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Milesburg’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1793, according to Wikidata. Milesburg’s post office opened in 1797, and the census of 1850 counted 478 people here.
Milesburg is more historic than 91% 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 Iddings-Baldridge House (listed 1977).
34% of Milesburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1964.
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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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