Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Riverside was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993.
The Riverside post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Readman (1882) and Seddon (1886), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Riverside is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns. Its age holds 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 Riverside’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.
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 Riverside’s history is told.
Riverside’s post office has been open since 1883. Two other post offices 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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Riverside yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Riverside is a city in St. Clair County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in 1886. As of the 2020 census, Riverside had a population of 2,227.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,208 in 2010, 2,227 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Riverside itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Riverside post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Riverside is more historic than 14% 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.
0.7% of Riverside’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 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.
