Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #143 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Baxley was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1880.
Baxley dates its founding to 1870 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Baxley is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #143 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Baxley’s 8.2 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Baxley’s history is told.
Baxley’s post office has been open since 1871. Another post office, Prentiss, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Baxley.
Baxley was first settled as a result of the Macon and Brunswick Railroad being built through Appling County in 1870. Originally, it was a railroad depot known as Station Number 7, but soon was named Baxley (after one of the community's first settlers, Wilson Baxley of North Carolina). Baxley incorporated in 1875.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingh…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereVonzell Solomon is born here
Born hereByron Buxton is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Baxley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Baxley.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/2880/e5c5290f4e13256ba335-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Baxley’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 110 people in 1880 to 4,942 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Baxley’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1870, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Baxley’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 110 people here.
Baxley is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #143 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.
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Appling County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first).
5% of Baxley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1982.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
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