Most of Vance was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Vance’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vance is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vance’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 Vance’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 B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1830.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Vance’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town of Vance was first settled in 1830 by David M. Lindley. At that time, the town was called Trion and it was a trading post on the Old Huntsville Road.
In 1872, Trion was renamed Smallwood in honor of sawmill owner Charles Smallwood.
In 1879, Smallwood was renamed its current name Vance in honor of Dr. William Vance of North Carolina. It appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the village of Vance's Station.
In 1830, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Vance’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1880 counted 82 people here.
How does Vance rank for history?
Vance is more historic than 35% 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 Vance?
3% of Vance’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 2005.
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, 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.
2009
