Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #37 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 153 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1870.
Abingdon dates its founding to 1776 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Abingdon is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #37 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Abingdon’s 188 sits above most of its state (77% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 157 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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.
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.
1891Sheet 2 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Abingdon’s post office has been open since 1792.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Abingdon.
The region was long the territory of varying cultures of indigenous peoples, including the Chisca and Xualae. From the late 17th-century, it was occupied by the Cherokee Nation, whose territory extended from the present-day area of borders of Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky through the spine of North Carolina and later into Georgia.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Abingdon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
By Act of the General Assembly of Virginia of date January 10, 1803, the corporate limits of Abingdon were extended to the west as far as Lot No. 16, which addition to the town has since been known as ''Craig's addition'' to the town of Abingdon. On the 13th of January, 1803, the General Assembly authorized the trustees of the town of Abingdon to conduct a lottery for the benefit of Abingdon Academy, the proceeds to be used in purchasing a library, philosophical and mathematical apparatus and anything
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Four members of the Board of Trustees of the town of Abingdon met at the courthouse in the town of Abingdon on the 18th of June, 1803, and, pursuant to the provisions of the Act of the Assembly of date Janiuiry 13, 1803, had the following proceedings: "At a meeting of the trustees of the town of Abingdon, at the courthouse of Washington county, ou .Saturday, tlie 18th day of June, 1803.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereSolomon P. Sharp is born here
Born hereFrancis Preston Blair is born here
In the archiveHistorical Collections of Virginia
In the archiveHenry Sparks, head-and-shoulders portrait, seated, facing front
In the archiveBirds eye view of
In the archiveRep. Campbell's House. Abingdon. One time Washington's house in Va
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereScott Cooper is born here
In the archiveMoonlite drive-In [Abingdon, Virginia]5 decades in the archive, from the 1840s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Abingdon. 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 Abingdon.
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 Abingdon’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 715 people in 1870 to 8,376 in 2020, more than tenfold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Abingdon’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.
In 1776, according to Wikidata. Abingdon’s post office opened in 1792, and the census of 1870 counted 715 people here.
Abingdon is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #37 of 253 in Virginia. 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.
6 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Abingdon Bank (listed 1969, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Abingdon Historic District, the Retirement and the Muster Grounds and the Depot Square Historic District, with 153 contributing buildings. 157 historic buildings in all.
11% of Abingdon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia 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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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