Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1947 on, and the census since 1860.
The Toms Brook post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Toms Brook’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Toms Brook.
During the American Civil War, the Battle of Tom's Brook was fought nearby, a Union victory that became dubbed "the Woodstock Races."
The Toms Brook School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Toms Brook. 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 Toms Brook.
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 Toms Brook’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.
Between 219 and 598 people in every census since 1860.
11 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Toms Brook’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Toms Brook itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Toms Brook post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Two places: the Toms Brook School (listed 2011) and the Funkhouser Farm (2018).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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