Adel’s post office opened in 1873, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #159 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Adel was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listings are the SOWEGA Building, the United States Post Office-Adel, Georgia and the Cook County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1890.
The Adel post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Heartpine (1894), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 527 in 18902020 census: 5,571153 years
How historic is Adel?
C
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Adel post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Adel’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Adel is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #159 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Adel’s overall grade.
Georgia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Georgia town has 10.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Adel’s 5.3 sits near the middle of its state (46% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Adel’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1903Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The original name of the city was Puddleville. The city's first postmaster, Joel "Uncle Jack" Parrish, wanted to change the name of the city. It is believed that he saw the name "Philadelphia" on a croaker sack and struck out the first and last four letters to create the present name of Adel.
The Georgia Southern and Florida Railway arrived in Adel in the 1880s. Adel was incorporated as a town in 1889.
The South Georgia Motorsports Park opened in 2004 with a quarter-mile dragstrip and a half-mile paved oval. It is set to host the NHRA Southern Nationals in 2026.
The Adel post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Adel rank for history?
Adel is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #159 of 263 in Georgia. 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.
What is on the National Register in Adel?
Three places: the SOWEGA Building (listed 1990), the United States Post Office-Adel, Georgia (2009) and the Cook County Courthouse (1995).
How old are the homes in Adel?
4% of Adel’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1980.
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), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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