Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the McMechen Lockmaster Houses on the Ohio River. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1890.
The McMechen post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McMechen is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
West Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical West Virginia town has 29.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so McMechen’s 16.4 sits near the middle of its state (56% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 McMechen’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of McMechen.
McMechen is named after William McMechen and his family, pioneer settlers.
The McMechen Lockmaster Houses on the Ohio River were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 3,726 in 1940; 1,697 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on McMechen’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McMechen. 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 McMechen.
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.
McMechen’s post office has been open since 1888.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The McMechen post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
McMechen is more historic than 76% 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 McMechen Lockmaster Houses on the Ohio River (listed 1992).
54% of McMechen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1938.
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), 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.
