More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #101 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Centre was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1850.
Founding year: the first Centre post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Centre’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Centre is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #101 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Centre’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 Centre’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 C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Centre’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Cherokee County was established on January 9, 1836, and named after the Cherokee people who once lived in the area. The famous Cherokee chief, Pathkiller, lived in Turkeytown near the present town of Centre. In 1836 the newly founded town of Cedar Bluff became the county seat, but in 1844 the county seat was moved to the more centrally located town of Centre. The name was chosen, and carries the British English spelling, because of this central location in the county. In 2011, Centre began allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages, and is no longer a dry city.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Centre’s history
What year was Centre founded?
The Centre post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Centre rank for history?
Centre is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #101 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.
How old are the homes in Centre?
4% of Centre’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (4), 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.
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