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C+History
History · Holt

19% of Holt’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #86 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 1950.

0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Holt’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Holt’s history

How historic is Holt?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Holt’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Holt is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #86 of 187 in Alabama. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Holt’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194018.6% of homes (±7.2) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AL town 2.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 54%

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 Holt’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points).

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 →

What stands out about Holt’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages12 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Mystery photos6 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Old housesHalf of Holt’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cadillac EstatesCherrywoodColony HillsCresent HeightsCumberland ParkElm RidgeHigh PointKeenewoodPoes AcresSouth HoltSouth Holt HighlandsWestview
Gone or out of use
Boteler High SchoolschoolChambers Milllocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Holt
ChambersHolt

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Holt’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Holt’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo6 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHolt Lock & Dam, Warrior River: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Holt, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Holt yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Holt is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 3,413. It is part of the Tuscaloosa, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,638 to 3,413 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Holt, decade by decade

Date unknown6 to date
Holt Lock & Dam, Warrior RiverDate?Holt Lock & Dam, Warrior RiverEmpire Coke PlantDate?Empire Coke PlantCentral Iron Foundry Site, 1700 Holt RoadDate?Central Iron Foundry Site, 1700 Holt RoadCentral Iron Foundry, Plate Mill Building, 1700 Holt RoadDate?Central Iron Foundry, Plate Mill Building, 1700 Holt …Warrior Southern Railway Bridge, Down stream from Holt Lock & DamDate?Warrior Southern Railway Bridge, Down stream from Hol…Central Iron Foundry, Hot Strip Mill Building, 1700 Holt RoadDate?Central Iron Foundry, Hot Strip Mill Building, 1700 H…
On the map

Holt on the map, 1934 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Holt. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Holt on the 1934 USGS mapHolt on the 1969 USGS mapHolt on the 1978 USGS mapHolt on the 1983 USGS map1934Cottondale sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Holt.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Holt Lock & Dam, Warrior River
Retake this viewHolt Lock & Dam, Warrior River

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Holt’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Holt, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5001960198020002020Peak: 4,125

Between 2,453 and 4,125 people in every census since 1950.

5 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Holt’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Tuscaloosa32 historic placesB+

Questions about Holt’s history

How does Holt rank for history?

Holt is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #86 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.

How old are the homes in Holt?

19% of Holt’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1960.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.