Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Cleveland was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listing is the Swann Covered Bridge. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1970.
The Cleveland post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Anderton (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cleveland is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold 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 Cleveland’s 8.5 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Cleveland’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Cleveland.
Cleveland was settled in the 1820s, and had grown into a small community by the early 1880s. It was initially known as Dry Creek Crossroads, and afterward as Blackwood's Crossroads, after local entrepreneur John Blackwood. When a post office was established in the community, it was named in honor of President Grover Cleveland. The town incorporated in 1964.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cleveland. 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 Cleveland.
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.
Between 413 and 1,303 people in every census since 1970.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cleveland’s Wikipedia page.
Cleveland’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Anderton, 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 Cleveland post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Cleveland is more historic than 31% 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.
One place: the Swann Covered Bridge (listed 1981).
2% of Cleveland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1984.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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