Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #147 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Brent was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1920.
Brent dates its founding to 1898 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brent is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #147 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Brent’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.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Brent’s history is told.
Peaked at 4,947 in 2010; 2,972 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brent’s Wikipedia page.
Brent’s post office has been open since 1899. Another post office, Jamesville, 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Brent.
Brent was founded in 1898 along the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad line in the southern portion of Bibb County, named after surveyor Brent H. Armstrong. The community was incorporated in 1913.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 Brent. 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 Brent.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1898, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Brent’s post office opened in 1893, and the census of 1920 counted 386 people here.
Brent is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #147 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.
0.0% of Brent’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 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.
