Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 169 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1850.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bowling Green is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. 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 Bowling Green’s 1,102 sits above most of its state (97% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 172 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1860, then grew 4-fold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bowling Green’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bowling Green.
The town of Bowling Green was earlier known as New Hope. One of the earliest stage roads in the colony ran through the area from Richmond to the Potomac River, where a ferry crossing was operated to Charles County, Maryland. New Hope Tavern was built along the road in the 18th century and the area around it became known as New Hope.
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.
Born hereReuben Chapman is born here
Born hereThomas P. Westendorf is born here
In the archiveBridge across the Matapony River near Bowling Green, Va
Born hereR. N. Watts is born here
In the archiveMulberry Place, Tanyard Swamp vicinity
In the archiveThe quiet town of Bowling Green now has huge Army trucks rolling through it all day. Caro…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2012Bowling Green, Virginia
2012Bowling Green, Virginia
2012Bowling Green, Virginia
2005SB US BUS 301 @ VA 2 and BUS 207;
2005Untitled photo
2005NB US 301 at US BUS 301 North End;
2005NB US 301 @ VA 207 Bypass Bridge;
2005NB US 301 @ US BUS 301 and VA 207;
2005East End VA BUS 207;
2004NB US 301 near VSR 619;
2004NB US 301 approaching VSR 619;
2004NB US 301 @ VSR 1204 nearEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bowling Green. 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 Bowling Green.
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 Bowling Green’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Bowling Green’s post office has been open since 1786. Another post office, Broaddus' Mills, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Bowling Green is more historic than 84% 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.
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Old Mansion (listed 1969, the first), and 1 historic district, the Bowling Green Historic District, with 169 contributing buildings. 172 historic buildings in all.
11% of Bowling Green’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
1933
1935
1935
