Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 18 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1860.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Market is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. 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 New Market’s 76.9 sits above most of its state (71% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 18 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% 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.
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.
1915Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of New Market.
In 1745, John Sevier, later a Revolutionary War commander, first governor of the temporary State of Franklin, and first and six-term Governor of Tennessee, was born in this town.
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 hereGeorge Baylor is born here
In the archivePortrait of a planter's family and slave
In the archiveView of transparency in front of headquarters of Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Col…
In the archiveBattle field
In the archiveSemi-centennial celebration of the Battle of New Market, May 15, 1914
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCivil War battlefield5 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2011New Market, Virginia
2011New Market, Virginia
2011New Market, Virginia
2011New Market, Virginia
2011New Market, Virginia
2011New Market, Virginia
2011New Market, Virginia
2011New Market, Virginia
20101988 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Our Community Place New…
20101987 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.6 Our Community Place farm …
2009I 81 Interstate 81 - Virginia
2006Blue Star Memorial Highway MarkerEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Market. 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 New Market.
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 New Market’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.
Grew from 747 people in 1860 to 2,155 in 2020.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Market’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
New Market is more historic than 84% 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.
Three places: the New Market Battlefield Park (listed 1970), the New Market Historic District (1972) and the Shenvalee Golf Resort (2023).
19% of New Market’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (14), the Library of Congress (4), 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), 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.
1982
