Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #170 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Highland Lakes was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1906 on.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Highland Lakes is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #170 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Highland Lakes’ 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: our sources. 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 Highland Lakes’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Highland Lakes. 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 Lakes.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Highland Lakes yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Highland Lakes is a census-designated place in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Highland Lakes had a population of 5,239.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,926 to 5,239 (+33%).
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.
Nobody well known was born in Highland Lakes itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Highland Lakes is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #170 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.
0.0% of Highland Lakes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 2005.
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. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
