Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Honaker Commercial Historic District. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1900.
Honaker dates its founding to 1772 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Honaker is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns. Its age holds 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 Honaker’s 177 sits above most of its state (76% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 21 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% 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 Honaker’s history is told.
Honaker’s post office has been open since 1884. Two other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Honaker. 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 Honaker.
From Wikipedia’s history of Honaker.
Honaker was settled as early as 1772 when William Ferrill established a homesite in the area. During Dunmore's War of 1774 a fort, known as New Garden Fort, was established to protect the settlers from Indian raids.
The Honaker Commercial Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
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
Born hereLee Brewster is born hereNo 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 Honaker’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 295 and 1,475 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Honaker’s Wikipedia page.
In 1772, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Honaker’s post office opened in 1841, and the census of 1900 counted 295 people here.
Honaker is more historic than 87% 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.
One place: the Honaker Commercial Historic District (listed 2009).
10% of Honaker’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 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 (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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