Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 112 buildings. Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1900.
The Brantley post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cohort (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brantley’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,151 in 1980; 825 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brantley’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Brantley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Brantley is a city in Crenshaw County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 825. Brantley was incorporated in 1891 as a city.
Its first post office opened in 1891. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 809 in 2010, 825 in 2020.
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.
Born hereChuck Person is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brantley. 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 Brantley.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Brantley’s post office has been open since 1891. Another post office, Cohort, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Brantley post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Brantley Historic District (listed 2004).
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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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