Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #116 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Oneonta was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Easley Covered Bridge. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1900.
The Oneonta post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oneonta is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #116 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Oneonta’s 1.4 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oneonta’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oneonta.
A post office called Oneonta has been in operation since 1889. The city was named after Oneonta, New York, the native home of a railroad official. In 1889, the county seat was transferred to Oneonta from Blountsville.
During World War II, a small POW camp was operated outside of Oneonta.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2025105 A St N, Oneonta, United States, 2025-11-06
2024Wallace State Building in
2024Oneonta New Stadium Lighting Plaque
2024Blount County Memorial Museum
2024Blockbuster Signage in
2020Tornado damage home Oneonta Alabama April 2020
2018AL75 North Sign
2018AL75 North - AL132 Sign
2017AL75 To AL132 and US231
2015US231nAL75nsToAL132signs-Oneonta
2007EasleyCBEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oneonta. 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 Oneonta.
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.
Grew from 583 people in 1900 to 6,938 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oneonta’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Oneonta’s post office has been open since 1889.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Oneonta post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Oneonta is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #116 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.
One place: the Easley Covered Bridge (listed 1981).
2% of Oneonta’s 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 1987.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (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.
