Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lipscomb’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lipscomb is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lipscomb’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 Lipscomb’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 range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±12.3 points). Two sources give 1910.
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 Lipscomb’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The city of Lipscomb was first incorporated on June 30, 1910, and was named for L. Y. Lipscomb, one of three brothers who first settled in the area in 1885. As early as the 1880s, the community was called Wheeling and the town had 200-300 residents by 1906. The community was originally named after Wheeling, West Virginia because the owners of Woodward Iron Company, who employed many of the residents, also had business interests in that state.
In 1910, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lipscomb’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1920 counted 1,605 people here.
How does Lipscomb rank for history?
Lipscomb is more historic than 28% 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 Lipscomb?
23% of Lipscomb’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.3 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1958.
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 (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.
2004
