Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Glendale was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1880.
Glendale dates its founding to 1862 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Glendale’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Glendale.
Glendale was originally called "Berryville", and under the latter name permanent settlement was first made in 1864. Sources differ whether the town was named for glens and dales near the town site, or after Glendale, Scotland, the native home of a share of the early settlers.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveSmith Hotel, Route 89
Born hereRicky Havili-Heimuli is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Glendale. 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 Glendale.
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 Glendale’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 200 and 381 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Glendale’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1862, according to Wikidata. Glendale’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1880 counted 338 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (4), 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) 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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