The Arab post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Eddy (1894), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 264 in 19202020 census: 8,461144 years
How historic is Arab?
C−
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Arab post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Arab’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Arab is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #130 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Arab’s overall grade.
Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Arab’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Arab’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
What is now Arab was established by Stephen Tuttle Thompson in the 1840s and was originally known as "Thompson's Village". The current name of the town was an unintentional misspelling by the United States Postal Service in 1882 of the city's intended name, taken from Arad Thompson, the son of the town founder, who had applied for a post office that year. "Arad" was one of three names sent to the Postal Service for consideration, the others being "Ink" and "Bird." Arab has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. Arab was incorporated on December 10, 1892.
The Arab post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Arab rank for history?
Arab is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #130 of 187 in Alabama. 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.
How old are the homes in Arab?
2% of Arab’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (6), 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.
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