Most of Guin was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1900.
The Guin post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1889. Another post office, Caudle (1883), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 249 in 19002020 census: 2,195138 years
How historic is Guin?
C−
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Guin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1889.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Guin’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Guin is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Guin’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 Guin’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1889 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Guin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Guin takes its name from a young country doctor, Dr. Jeremiah ("Jerry") Guin from Tuscaloosa County, who purchased the farm known then as Haley's Trading Post (where is now situate the town of Guin) from a certain John T. Meador in 1870, and who, in turn, had bought the property from a certain Alan Haley, a newcomer to the State, who had built there a country store on the most used road stretching from north to south, in order to accommodate cattle drovers taking their cattle to market in Columbus and Aberdeen, Mississippi. Jeremiah Guin, while looking for a place to make his home, moved the center of interest about a mile east of Haley's Trading Post (now 12th Street N. and 11 Ave. in present-day Guin).
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.
The Guin post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1889.
How does Guin rank for history?
Guin is more historic than 19% 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.
How old are the homes in Guin?
3% of Guin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (6), 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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