Most of Wilsonville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Wilsonville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wilsonville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wilsonville 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 Wilsonville’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 Wilsonville’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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points). 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 Wilsonville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wilsonville is named after the earliest settler in the area, Elisha Wilson.
The town was incorporated in 1897. 3 years later in 1900, it had the distinction of being the largest community in Shelby County with 1,095, edging out the county seat of Columbiana by 20 people. It lost the distinction to Columbiana in 1910 and would not exceed its 1900 population again until 1990.
The Wilsonville post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Wilsonville rank for history?
Wilsonville 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 Wilsonville?
3% of Wilsonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1991.
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, 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.
