Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 5% of U.S. towns · #163 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Good Hope was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1970.
Good Hope first appears in the census in 1970.
More historic than 5% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Good Hope is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #163 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Good Hope’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 census (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 Good Hope’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Good Hope yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Good Hope is a city in Cullman County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Good Hope had a population of 2,483. It incorporated in April 1962.
Its first post office opened in 1970. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,264 to 2,483 (+10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Good Hope. 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 Good Hope.
Grew from 840 people in 1970 to 2,483 in 2020.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Good Hope’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Good Hope itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Good Hope post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Good Hope is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #163 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.
2% of Good Hope’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
