Most of Brookwood was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 1970.
The Brookwood post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hurricane (1878) and Brownwood (1926), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 196 in 19702020 census: 2,504136 years
How historic is Brookwood?
C−
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Brookwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Brookwood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookwood is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brookwood’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 Brookwood’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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). 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 Brookwood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
On September 23, 2001, two separate explosions occurred at approximately 5:20 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. in 4 Section of the Jim Walter Resources Blue Creek No. 5 mine, resulting in fatal injuries to thirteen miners. At the time of the explosions, thirty-two miners were underground during a non-producing Sunday afternoon shift. Ten of those killed refused to evacuate, instead staying behind in an attempt to rescue several who were trapped after the first explosion.
The Brookwood post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Brookwood rank for history?
Brookwood is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. 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 Brookwood?
2% of Brookwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, 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.
Date?
Date?
2004
