Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #88 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Dothan was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. 8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 49 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1890.
The Dothan post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1885.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dothan is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #88 of 187 in Alabama. 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 Dothan’s 10.3 sits above most of its state (67% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 74 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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.
Dothan’s post office has been open since 1858.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dothan’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1893Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dothan.
Between 1763 and 1783, the region that is now Dothan was part of the colony of British West Florida. European-American settlers moving through the area during the late 18th and early 19th centuries discovered the Indian spring, naming it "Poplar Head". Most felt that the sandy soil common to this region would be unsuitable for farming, so they moved on.
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.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Alabama - Houston County - Dothan - ED 35-3 - ED …
Born hereJohnny Mack Brown is born here
BuiltFederal Building and U.S. Courthouse is built
BuiltDothan Opera House is built
In the archiveDothan Harmony Club in front of the Dothan Opera House, circa 1912-1920
Born hereDonna D'Errico is born here
Born hereMark Walker is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMatt Cain is born here
BuiltDothan Municipal Light and Water Plant is built2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2010Cotton and Railroad sections of Early Commerce mural
2010Adventureland Theme Park Miniature Golf
2010Adventureland Theme Park Miniature Golf
2010Adventureland Theme Park Miniature Golf
2010Adventureland Theme Park Miniature Golf
2010Highland Oaks Golf Course
2010[Mural: Country Music (detail)
2010Mural: Dothan Riot (detail), 109 S. St. Andrews Street
2010Justice Fountain
2010Justice Fountain
2010Mural: Country Music
2010Mural: Dothan Riot, 109 S. St. Andrews Street
2010Joseph Monument
2010Opera House
2010Barn
2010Dothan, Alabama, "Peanut Capital of the World." The p…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dothan. 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 Dothan.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dothan’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 247 people in 1890 to 71,072 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dothan’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dothan post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1885.
Dothan is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #88 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.
8 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse (listed 1974, the first), 1 historic district, the Main Street Commercial District, with 49 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 74 historic buildings in all.
3% of Dothan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (15), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
