Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #90 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Most of Harrisville was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1880.
Harrisville dates its founding to 1850 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrisville is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #90 of 119 in Utah. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Harrisville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Utah 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 Harrisville’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harrisville’s Wikipedia page.
Harrisville had its own post office from 1871 to 1902.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Harrisville.
The first permanent settlement at Harrisville was made in 1850. A post office called Harrisville was established in 1871, and remained in operation until 1902. The community was named after Martin H. Harris, a pioneer settler.
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.
In the archive623 MSS P 24 B7 F6
In the archiveMartin H. Harris
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Harrisville. 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 Harrisville.
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 Harrisville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1850, according to Wikidata. Harrisville’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 582 people here.
Harrisville is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #90 of 119 in Utah. 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.
2% of Harrisville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 2001.
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 (3), 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.
2011
