Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Highland Lake was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1970.
Highland Lake first appears in the census in 1970.
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 Highland Lake’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Highland Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Highland Lake is a town in Blount County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 412.
Its first post office opened in 1970. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 412 in 2010, 412 in 2020.
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 Highland Lake. 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 Highland Lake.
Between 108 and 412 people in every census since 1970.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Highland Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Highland Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Highland Lake post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
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.
