Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Ludwig Deckert House, the Freeman Junior College and the First National Bank, Freeman.
Freeman dates its founding to 1879 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1880.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Freeman is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
South Dakota towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Dakota town has 37.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Freeman’s 31.9 sits above most of its state (67% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Freeman’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Freeman yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Freeman is a city in Hutchinson County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,329 at the 2020 census. Freeman was laid out in 1879.
Freeman was established in 1879. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,306 in 2010, 1,329 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereConnor Hansen is born here
Born hereWilbur Foss is born hereThe 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1879, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Freeman’s post office opened in 1880.
Freeman is more historic than 66% 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.
Three places: the Ludwig Deckert House (listed 1984), the Freeman Junior College (2004) and the First National Bank, Freeman (2015).
21% of Freeman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1958.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2010