Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #86 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Emmanuel Church at Brook Hill. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1970.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lakeside is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #86 of 253 in Virginia. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Lakeside’s 1.6 sits near the middle of its state (42% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lakeside’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lakeside. 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 Lakeside.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lakeside yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lakeside is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henrico County, Virginia, United States. It is an inner suburb of Richmond. The population was 12,203 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 11,849 to 12,203 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
Between 11,137 and 12,289 people in every census since 1970.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lakeside’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Lakeside is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #86 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.
One place: the Emmanuel Church at Brook Hill (listed 2000).
11% of Lakeside’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2017
2012