Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Ferron Presbyterian Church and Cottage and the Samuel Singleton House.
Ferron dates its founding to 1877 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1879.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ferron is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Utah towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Utah town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ferron’s 19.8 sits above most of its state (73% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 Ferron’s history is told.
Ferron’s post office has been open since 1888. Two 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 Ferron.
Ferron was originally populated by Mormon settlers in 1877. Three families responded to a call from the LDS Church asking to settle in the Castle Valley. They started on 15 November 1877 and arrived about 21 days later. The group spent time creating dugouts and later made their living in farming.
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.
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.
In 1877, according to Wikidata. Ferron’s post office opened in 1879.
Ferron is more historic than 61% 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.
Two places: the Ferron Presbyterian Church and Cottage (listed 1978) and the Samuel Singleton House (1979).
17% of Ferron’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.7 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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