Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 22 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1850.
The Lowndesboro post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mc Gail's Hill (1832), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveChurch along route No. 80 near Lounsboro, Alabama
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyMost archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lowndesboro.
Originally known as McGill's Hill, the community began attracting settlers following the conclusion of the Creek War. In 1832, the residents changed the name to Lowndesboro in honor of U.S. Congressman William Lowndes, the son of Rawlins Lowndes, an early South Carolina governor.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lowndesboro. 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 Lowndesboro.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lowndesboro’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 89 and 500 people in every census since 1850.
8 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lowndesboro’s Wikipedia page.
Lowndesboro’s post office has been open since 1832. Another post office, Mc Gail's Hill, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Lowndesboro post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Lowndesboro Historic District (listed 1973).
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 the Library of Congress (10), 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.
1941
1941
1941
1941
Date?
Date?
Date?
Date?
Date?
