Grand Bay’s post office opened in 1870, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #91 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Grand Bay was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Grand Bay post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Grand Bay’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grand Bay is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #91 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Grand Bay’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 Grand Bay’s 8.4 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points). 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 Grand Bay’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
According to local accounts, George Cassibry was the first person to settle in Grand Bay. He came to the area in 1853, establishing a home site near the headwaters of Franklin Creek located today near the intersection of Highway 90 and Ramsey Road. Exploration and settlement of the area was well underway by the mid-nineteenth century.
During the Civil War, the town saw brief military action as a column of troops under U.S. General Gordon Granger reached the town as a preliminary move in the siege of Mobile. In 1870 the U.S. Postal Service established a post office at a location near the center of the current community.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Grand Bay’s history
What year was Grand Bay founded?
The Grand Bay post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Grand Bay rank for history?
Grand Bay is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #91 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.
What is on the National Register in Grand Bay?
One place: the Grand Bay Historic District (listed 1990).
How old are the homes in Grand Bay?
6% of Grand Bay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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