Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #66 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Most of Dublin was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 97 buildings. Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1880.
Dublin first appears in the census in 1880.
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dublin is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #66 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Dublin’s 416 sits above most of its state (88% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 111 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first census (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 Dublin’s history is told.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dublin.
Back Creek Farm, Belle-Hampton, Dublin Historic District, Fairview District Home, Haven B. Howe House, New Dublin Presbyterian Church, Rockwood, and Spring Dale are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dublin. 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 Dublin.
Grew from 285 people in 1880 to 2,682 in 2020, 9 times over.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dublin’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Dublin post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Dublin is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #66 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.
Three places: the Dublin Historic District (listed 1992), the New Dublin Presbyterian Church (2004) and the Rockwood (2005).
10% of Dublin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (8), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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