More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #122 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Winfield was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Winfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1897.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Winfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winfield is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #122 of 187 in Alabama. 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 Winfield’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 Winfield’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 (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1897 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Winfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Winfield is a small city situated in northwest Alabama, 26 miles (42 km) east of the Mississippi state line. It lies in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountain range which stretches from the deep South all the way to Canada. Long before the earliest settlers arrived, Native Americans hunted in the forest and fished in the streams of the region. This area was once the domain of the Chickasaw people. Although there were no known Native American settlements within the county, several sites were maintained as hunting camps.
The Winfield post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1897.
How does Winfield rank for history?
Winfield is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #122 of 187 in Alabama. 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 Winfield?
7% of Winfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (2), 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.
2004
