Most of Smoke Rise was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 2000.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Smoke Rise is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns. 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 Smoke Rise’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 Smoke Rise’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Smoke Rise’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Smoke Rise lies east of Interstate 65 in western Blount County, with most homes sitting atop Bryant Mountain or in the valley below. The community began in the late 1960s as a large planned residential subdivision. Smoke Rise originally was slated to include its own community school, but those plans never came to fruition; today, children there attend public schools in nearby Hayden.
Residents founded the Smoke Rise Homeowners Association in the mid-1990s, but the community remains unincorporated despite occasional discussion of an incorporation vote. Few businesses are in Smoke Rise's immediate vicinity, but many observers expect the impending construction of a new sewer system in western Blount County to fuel commercial growth.
Smoke Rise is more historic than 3% 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 Smoke Rise?
0.0% of Smoke Rise’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 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.
