Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Georgiana was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1880.
The Georgiana post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Friendship (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Georgiana is more historic than 20% 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 Georgiana’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 Georgiana’s history is told.
Peaked at 2,148 in 1970; 1,324 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Georgiana’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Georgiana yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Georgiana is a town in Butler County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Georgiana had a population of 1,324.
Its first post office opened in 1855. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,738 to 1,324 (-24%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Georgiana, cut from the printed page as they were published.
year. Both denominations have very handsome structures for the size of the town. In 1868 the citizens erected a large building for school purposes, which is called the Georgiana Academy. First school was taught at this place in 1856, in a log school-house, by Miss Eunice Eskew. E. C.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2022Train car with hank williams on it
2022Hank train
2010Train car at boyhood home of Hank Williams
2010Boyhood home of Hank Williams
2010Boyhood home of Hank Williams
2010Boyhood home of Hank Williams
2010Train car at boyhood home of Hank Williams
2010Hank-Williams-Georgiana-House
2010Boyhood home of Hank Williams in
2010Boyhood home of Hank Williams in
2010Boyhood home of Hank Williams in
2004ALMap-doton-Georgiana
2001Terry Everett with Loretta Lynn and Jett WilliamsEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Georgiana. 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 Georgiana.
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.
1916Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Georgiana’s post office has been open since 1855. Another post office, Friendship, 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 Georgiana post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Georgiana is more historic than 20% 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.
4% of Georgiana’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (4), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
