Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Snead was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1970.
The Snead post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Snead is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Snead’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 Snead’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Snead.
First settled in 1839, what is now Snead began to expand in the 1850s when local businessman G.W. White built a gristmill on the nearby Black Warrior River. The town is named for John Snead, who became its first postmaster in 1882 (Snead State Community College in nearby Boaz is also named for John Snead). The Town of Snead incorporated in 1966.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Snead. 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 Snead.
Grew from 347 people in 1970 to 1,032 in 2020.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Snead’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Snead itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Snead had its own post office from 1883 to 1907.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Snead post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Snead is more historic than 21% 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.
5% of Snead’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (4), 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.
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