Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Butler was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: maps from 1978 on and the census since 1880.
The Butler post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Butler is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Butler’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: 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 →
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 Butler’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Butler.
When Choctaw County was formed in 1847, Butler was created as the county seat. The town was located and settled in 1848. It is named in honor of Colonel Pierce Butler, a soldier killed in the Mexican–American War.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Butler, cut from the printed page as they were published.
This honored citizen of Alabama was born in Butler County, January 3, 18 19, and was the eldest child of John H. and Prudence Watts, who moved in 18 17 from Greene County, Georgia, to Butler County, in the then Territory of Alabama. His father was among the first settlers of Butler County, and located the place now known in the Flat as the Watts' Old Place, and which is often visited
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This road passed diagonally across Butler County, and within the corporate limits of the town of Greenville. This little place was now a town of several hundred souls, and her progress had been greatly retarded for the want of a more convenient means of transportation.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Butler. 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 Butler.
Between 194 and 2,064 people in every census since 1880.
11 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Butler’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Butler’s post office has been open since 1848.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Butler post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Butler is more historic than 39% 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.
5% of Butler’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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