Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Durand Free Library and the Pepin County Courthouse and Jail. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.
Durand dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Durand is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Durand’s 17.3 sits above most of its state (81% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Durand’s history is told.
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.
1894Sheet 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 Durand.
The Durand area was first settled in 1856 when 21-year-old Miles Durand Prindle came up the river in a keel boat named the "Dutch Lady," and took government land on the site of the present city. Originally named Bear Creek, Durand was incorporated on April 12, 1887.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Durand, cut from the printed page as they were published.
on the bank in their identity with the twice outlawed desperadoes of Illinois and Wisconsin. The armed and disguised men disappeared in a piece of timber on the outskirts of Durand, while the spying villagers betook themselves with all haste to spread the great news they had to tell. It was not long before a considerable number of people in Durand knew of the Williams brothers' approaching visit to the village. Strange, though, it was, that among
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereGeorge E. Scott is born here
Born hereHelen Parkhurst is born here
BuiltDurand Free Library is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Durand. 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 Durand.
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.
Between 642 and 2,103 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Durand’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Durand’s post office has been open since 1858.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1856, according to Wikidata. Durand’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1880 counted 642 people here.
Durand is more historic than 70% 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.
Two places: the Durand Free Library (listed 1980) and the Pepin County Courthouse and Jail (1982).
23% of Durand’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (2), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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