Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1965 on, and the census since 1880.
Topton dates its founding to 1859 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Topton is more historic than 56% 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 Topton’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 Topton’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Topton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Topton is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,041 at the 2020 census.
Topton was established in 1859. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,069 in 2010, 2,041 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Topton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
TOPTON Topton is situated along the East Penn railroad, in Longswamp township, near the line of Maxatawny. It was started with the construction of the railroad in 1859 and derived its name from its location at the highest point on the railroad between Reading and Allentown. A branch railroad to Kutztown was opened for travel in 1870, the length
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
this railroad should not be extended by way of Kutztown, a branch should be constructed to that place. -Subsequently a section of the road was constructed from Topton to Kutztown, in length four and a half miles, and opened for travel in January, 1870. It has been operated since by the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company under a lease.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Railroad. — " The tendency toward public and social improvement was now also greatly aided by the branch railroad which connects Kutztown, by way of Topton, with the chief centres of American civilization. Failing in their plans to have the East Pennsylvania Railroad pass through the borough, the people bent their energies upon the completion of what once bore the name of the Allen-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Bower's, and two and a half miles from Kutztown. It was the railway station of Kutztown till 1870, when the branch railroad was extended to that borough from Topton. It was named after M. E. Lyons, chief engineer of the railroad. The first improvements had been made before a station was located. The land on which the village stands was owned by John
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.
In the archiveTopton Berks Co PA B eye view 1893
In the archiveTopton PA St Peters Reformed PHS601
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Topton. 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 Topton.
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 Topton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 500 and 2,069 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Topton’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1859, according to Wikidata. Topton’s post office opened in 1861, and the census of 1880 counted 515 people here.
Topton is more historic than 56% 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.
50% of Topton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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), 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.
1893
1893
2018
2015
