Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #11 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 77 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.
The Luray post office opened in 1803, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1812.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Luray is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #11 of 253 in Virginia. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age 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 Luray’s 189 sits above most of its state (77% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 91 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Luray’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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Luray.
The Town of Luray was officially established by act of the Virginia General Assembly on February 6, 1812, on ten acres of land near the Hawksbill Creek. On March 21, 1871, by act of General Assembly, the Town became an “Incorporated Town,” containing approximately 442 acres.
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 hereThomas Jordan is born here
Born hereWilliam Alexander Harris is born here
Born hereEdward Almond is born here
In the archivePSM V64 D565 Limair sanitarium
Born hereGladys Blake is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveDowntown Luray Main Street Bridge Flooded in Hurricane Fran (1996)2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Luray. 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 Luray.
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 Luray’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 632 and 4,895 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Luray’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Luray’s post office has been open since 1803.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Luray post office opened in 1803, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1812.
Luray is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #11 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.
8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Aventine Hall (listed 1970, the first), 2 historic districts, the Luray Downtown Historic District and the Redwell-Isabella Furnace Historic District, with 77 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 91 historic buildings in all.
30% of Luray’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1903
1906
2004
