Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Belk was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1970.
The Belk post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Belk’s history is told.
Peaked at 308 in 1980; 186 people lived here in 2020.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Belk’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Belk yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Belk is a town in Fayette County, Alabama, United States. Its citizens voted to incorporate in January 1969. At the 2020 census, the population was 186.
Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 215 to 186 (-13%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Belk. 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 Belk.
Nobody well known was born in Belk itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Belk post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.
2004
