Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #215 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Most of Long Branch was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1970.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Long Branch is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #215 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 Long Branch’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Long Branch’s history is told.
Another post office, Doddville, 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 Long Branch. 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 Long Branch.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Long Branch yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Long Branch is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, bordering the city of Fairfax. The population as of the 2010 census was 7,593.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 7,593 to 7,890 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1810s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Long Branch’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 7,593 and 21,634 people in every census since 1970.
3 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Long Branch’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Long Branch itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Long Branch is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #215 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.
0.5% of Long Branch’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (1), 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.
2019
