Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #585 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of New Freedom was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listing is the New Freedom Railroad Station, Northern Central Railway. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1880.
New Freedom dates its founding to 1783 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Freedom is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #585 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 New Freedom’s 2.0 sits near the middle of its state (57% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Freedom’s history is told.
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 SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of New Freedom.
New Freedom Borough is located in the southern portion of York County, Pennsylvania. The borough borders the Mason–Dixon line and was incorporated in 1873. Originally named “Freedom” for the Free family, there was another town already in existence with that name, so New Freedom was chosen as the official name.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Freedom.
1900Parkton sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Freedom.
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.
1908Sheet 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 324 people in 1880 to 4,877 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Freedom’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1783, according to Wikidata. New Freedom’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1880 counted 324 people here.
New Freedom is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #585 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 New Freedom Railroad Station, Northern Central Railway (listed 1995).
8% of New Freedom’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 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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