Small towns with the most history

Small towns with the most places on the National Register of Historic Places, the federal list of buildings, districts and sites worth preserving.

How we picked

Buildings, districts and structures listed with the town as their city (National Park Service); archaeological sites, whose locations are kept private, aren't counted
Not a suburb
Ranked by the number of listings

#	Town	Historic places	Including	People
1	Sandusky, OH	115	Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility	24,001
2	Natchez, MS	112	Arlington	14,880
3	Victoria, TX	110	South Bridge Street Historic District	66,500
4	Beaver, UT	104	Upper Beaver Hydroelectric Power Plant Historic District	3,699
5	Portland, ME	96	Gen. Neal Dow House	69,911
6	Poughkeepsie, NY	92	Hudson River State Hospital, Main Building	32,499
7	Bastrop, TX	91	Bastrop State Park	13,383
8	Las Vegas, NM	89	Bridge Street Historic District	12,574
9	Park City, UT	89	Kimball Stage Stop	8,587
10	Southbridge, MA	85	American Optical Company Historic District	18,105
11	Sarasota, FL	84	Bacheller-Brewer Model Home Estate	58,458
12	Hot Springs, AR	83	Bathhouse Row	37,979
13	Hot Springs Village, AR	83	Bathhouse Row	16,327
14	Barnstable, MA	77	Centerville Historic District	50,101
15	Lancaster, PA	77	Fulton Opera House	58,366
16	Saranac Lake, NY	73	Berkeley Square Historic District (Additional Documentation)	4,793
17	Galveston, TX	73	East End Historic District	53,636
18	Prescott, AZ	72	Courthouse Plaza Historic District	48,420
19	Vicksburg, MS	70	Old Courthouse, Warren County	19,830
20	Bozeman, MT	69	Bon Ton Historic District	58,814
21	Dubuque, IA	68	Dubuque County Jail	59,148
22	Danville, KY	68	Dr. Ephraim McDowell House	17,736
23	Georgetown, KY	67	Georgetown College Historic Buildings	40,883
24	Helena, MT	67	Forestvale Cemetery	35,138
25	Kalispell, MT	65	C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery	31,851
26	Dublin, NH	65	Dublin Lake Historic District	1,605
27	Grand Forks, ND	64	Baukol Historic District	60,365
28	Eau Claire, WI	64	Confluence Commercial Historic District	72,465
29	St. Joseph, MO	60	John Patee House	71,001
30	Pine Bluff, AR	58	Pine Bluff Commercial Historic District	38,213
31	Charleston, WV	58	Downtown Charleston Historic District (Additional Documentation)	46,117
32	Cheyenne, WY	57	Fort David A. Russell	66,507
33	Harrodsburg, KY	56	Beaumont Avenue Residential District	9,576
34	Youngstown, OH	56	Arlington Avenue District	58,832
35	Cuero, TX	56	City Water Works	8,264
36	Jerome, ID	55		13,731
37	Estes Park, CO	54	Rocky Mountain National Park Administration Building	5,780
38	New Bern, NC	53	Craven Terrace	34,724
39	Mansfield, OH	53	Downtown Mansfield Historic District	47,381
40	Kingman, AZ	52	Kingman Commercial Historic District	35,829
41	Lancaster, KY	52	Lancaster Commercial Historic District	4,111
42	Springfield, KY	52	Grundy Houses	3,033
43	Burlington, VT	52	Battery Street Historic District	44,019
44	Casa Grande, AZ	51	Evergreen Addition Historic District (Additional Documentation)	69,753
45	Wheeling, WV	51	West Virginia Independence Hall	25,680
46	Searcy, AR	50	Searcy Commercial Historic District	24,351
47	Shelbyville, KY	50	Cameron Brown Farm	18,453
48	Jefferson City, MO	50	Broadway-Dunklin Historic District	42,489
49	Anniston, AL	49	Downtown Anniston Historic District	20,930
50	Terre Haute, IN	49	Eugene V. Debs House	58,764

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (2025 population estimates; American Community Survey 2020-2024), Medicare hospital data, NOAA climate normals, the National Park Service and the Education Department, as on each town page. Census survey figures are estimates; towns where the survey is too thin for a figure are left off lists that use it. Miles are straight-line. Data last updated October 5, 2026.

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