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CHistory
History · Thorsby

Thorsby dates to 1895, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1910.

1895founded
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Thorsby began

When was Thorsby founded?

1895

Thorsby dates its founding to 1895 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 426 in 19102020 census: 2,064131 years

How historic is Thorsby?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1875.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Thorsby’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thorsby is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Thorsby’s overall grade.
Founding era1895, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.3% of homes (±5.0) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AL town 2.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder

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 Thorsby’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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). Two sources give 1895.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Thorsby’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Thorsby are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18913 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1983. Watch Thorsby change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Thorsby’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thorsby’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Thorsby on the map, 1891 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Thorsby. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Thorsby on the 1891 USGS mapThorsby on the 1971 USGS mapThorsby on the 1983 USGS map1891Clanton sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Thorsby.

The story

How Thorsby came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Thorsby.

Read it all →

Thorsby is a small Central Alabama town located in Chilton County. Thorsby was first settled in 1895 and incorporated in 1901 by Scandinavian immigrants who had originally settled in the midwestern United States, but who were seeking a milder climate and fertile soil for growing food. One of those earliest settlers was Theodore T. Thorson, for whom the town was eventually named (the suffix "by" meaning "settlement" in Scandinavian languages). The town grew quickly, with two hotels, a sawmill and lumber company, and two wineries being built within the first couple of years. The town of Thorsby was declared a promised land for northerners looking to relocate to a warmer climate, suitable for farming and better health. The fertile soil of the South produced grapes in large numbers, along with other fruits such as strawberries, and the peaches for which Chilton County is famous. The founder…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Thorsby, 1875 to 1936

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Strasburg post office opens
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1895
    FoundingThorsby is established
  5. 1896Post officeThe Strasburg post office closes
  6. 1896Post officeThe Thorsby post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1936Born hereJackie Burkett is born here
By decade

Thorsby, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Thorsby High School in snow2009Thorsby High School in snowRogue Hollow Creek2009Rogue Hollow CreekThorsby town sign displaying Rebel man2008Thorsby town sign displaying Rebel man
People over time

Thorsby, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001920194019601980200020202,064

Grew from 426 people in 1910 to 2,064 in 2020, 4 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Thorsby’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Thorsby’s post office has been open since 1896. Another post office, Strasburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Strasburg
1875–1896
Thorsby
1896–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Thorsby Instituteschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Thorsby
Pine HillThorsby MemorialThorsby Scandinavian

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Thorsby’s history

What year was Thorsby founded?

In 1895, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Thorsby’s post office opened in 1875, and the census of 1910 counted 426 people here.

How does Thorsby rank for history?

Thorsby is more historic than 30% 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 Thorsby?

11% of Thorsby’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1987.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (3), 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.