Most of Morris was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Morris post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Morris’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Morris is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Morris’ 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 Morris’ 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 C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Morris’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Morris yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Morris is a town in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is north of the Birmingham suburb of Gardendale. It initially incorporated on September 19, 1885. At some point after 1910, its incorporation lapsed and it failed to appear on the census rolls beginning in 1920 through to 1950. It reincorporated on July 11, 1950. As of the 2020 census, Morris had a population of 2,259. The town is named after Mary Hunter "Mae" Morris, an early female pioneer of the region.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,859 to 2,259 (+22%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Morris, 1872 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Morris post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Morris rank for history?
Morris is more historic than 16% 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 Morris?
2% of Morris’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1997.
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 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.
