Most of Linden was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listing is the Old Courthouse. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1828.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Linden’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Linden is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Linden’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 Linden’s 5.1 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±3.6 points). Two sources give 1823.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Linden’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Settled prior to 1818, the community was first known as "Screamersville", since the cry of wild animals could still be heard during the night. It became the county seat in 1819 and was then known as the "Town of Marengo". This was changed to "Hohenlinden" in 1823, to honor the county's earliest European settlers, French Bonapartist refugees to the Vine and Olive Colony. The name commemorated the battle in 1800 at Hohenlinden, Bavaria, where the French defeated the armies of both Austria and Bavaria. The spelling was later shortened to just "Linden."
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 Linden’s history
What year was Linden founded?
In 1823, according to Wikidata. Linden’s post office opened in 1828, and the census of 1860 counted 171 people here.
How does Linden rank for history?
Linden is more historic than 59% 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.
What is on the National Register in Linden?
One place: the Old Courthouse (listed 1974).
How old are the homes in Linden?
6% of Linden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (1), 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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2014
