Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Warsaw was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1880.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Warsaw is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. 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 Warsaw’s 13.1 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 Warsaw’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Warsaw. 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 Warsaw.
From Wikipedia’s history of Warsaw.
Prior to English colonization, the area of Warsaw, Virginia was occupied by a group of Rappahannock Native Americans, who would fish on the nearby creeks for shad and herring. By 1667, the Rappahannock people had been forced to sell all their land north of the Rappahannock River to English settlers, including the modern site of Warsaw.
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.
BuiltRichmond County Courthouse is built
Born hereWilliam Atkinson Jones is born here
Born hereJames F. Garland is born here
Born hereHenry St. George Tucker is born here
Born hereBeverley Dandridge Tucker is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2026US 360 EAST AT VA 411 (6)
2021Downtown Warsaw, Virginia 2020
2019Warsaw historical marker at Richmond County Courthouse
2019Warsaw aerial
2019Northern Neck State Bank
2019Main and Menokin school in
2014WWWWE wilnapondburm
2014WWWWE wilnapond
2014WWW CL
2013WWWWE archery course
2008WilliamAJonesGrave
2008William Atkinson Jones' grave
2008StJohnsChurchWarsawVA
2008CentralWarsawVirginia
2005VAMap-doton-WarsawNo 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 Warsaw’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 115 people in 1880 to 1,637 in 2020, more than tenfold.
9 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Warsaw’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Warsaw’s post office has been open since 1794.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Warsaw is more historic than 43% 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 Mount Airy (listed 1966), the Richmond County Courthouse (1972) and the Chinn House (2021).
5% of Warsaw’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (15), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), 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) 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.
★ Landmark
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