Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Fort Huger.
The Rushmere post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fergussons Wharf (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rushmere is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Rushmere’s 9.7 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Rushmere’s history is told.
Rushmere had its own post office from 1913 to 1972. Another post office, Fergussons Wharf, 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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rushmere yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Rushmere is a census-designated place (CDP) in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Rushmere had a population of 1,175.
Its first post office opened in 1913. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,018 to 1,175 (+15%).
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Rushmere itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Rushmere post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Rushmere is more historic than 38% 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 Fort Huger (listed 2008).
17% of Rushmere’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.3 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
