Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #15 of 38 in Rhode Island. What drives it
25 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 243 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1790.
South Kingstown dates its founding to 1722 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
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, South Kingstown is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #15 of 38 in Rhode Island. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
Rhode Island towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Rhode Island town has 94.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so South Kingstown’s 91.7 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Rhode Island towns have fewer) while its 294 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
10 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of South Kingstown.
The Narragansett Indians were known to occupy a winter camp in the Great Swamp, within present day South Kingstown.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereOliver Hazard Perry is born here
Born hereIsaac P. Rodman is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltDewey Cottage is built
In the archiveJirehBullHouseNormanIsham
In the archiveFayerweather House HABS RI1
In the archiveRichardsonian Romanesque - South Kingstown (Peace Dale), RI - Hazard Memorial Building
In the archiveHenryPalmerHouse
Born hereAndrew Burnap is born here4 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2015Emdalar Castle Entrance
2014Fall Walkway
2013Woodruff Avenue underpass, South County Bike Path, Wa…
2013Route 1 underpass, South County Bike Path
2013Bridge over Saugatucket River, South County Bike Path…
2012Kenyons Building
2012Kenyon's Department Store
2012Henry Marchant Farm
2012Bell Block
2010S Kingstown RI lg
2010Untitled photo
2008Detailed map of Wakefield-Peacedale, Rhode IslandMapEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of South Kingstown. 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 South Kingstown.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 South Kingstown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 4,131 people in 1790 to 31,931 in 2020, 7 times over.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on South Kingstown’s Wikipedia 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 1722, according to Wikidata. South Kingstown’s post office opened in 1776, and the first U.S. census counted 4,131 people here in 1790.
South Kingstown is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #15 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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.
25 listings: 18 buildings and 7 historic districts with 243 contributing buildings. 294 historic buildings in all.
19% of South Kingstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 20% for a Rhode Island town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (25), 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.
1984
1984
