More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #181 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Satsuma was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1941 on and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Satsuma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Satsuma’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Satsuma is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #181 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Satsuma’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 Satsuma’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 D. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 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 Satsuma’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was inhabited for thousands of years by differing cultures of indigenous peoples.
1878 – Farmers introduced Mandarin Satsuma oranges to Alabama from Japan for cultivation.
1910 – Pace Orange Orchard had about 100 acres (0.40 km2) of pecans and satsuma trees on the area.
1912-1924 – Satsuma trees damaged by cold weather and citrus canker
1918 – Norman E. McConaghy hired as manager of the Satsuma Orange & Pecan Groves Company
1959 – Plans for a town charter submitted to the County of Mobile and the State of Alabama were approved. April 6, 1959, was the first municipal election.
2011 – Satsuma breaks away from the Mobile County school system and starts working on its own curriculum.
The Satsuma post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Satsuma rank for history?
Satsuma is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #181 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.
How old are the homes in Satsuma?
0.0% of Satsuma’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1982.
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, 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
