Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #127 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Camilla was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 23 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Camilla dates its founding to 1858 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Camilla is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #127 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 Camilla’s 52.7 sits above most of its state (67% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 27 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Camilla’s history is told.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Camilla.
The city was incorporated in 1858. The name "Camilla" was chosen in honor of the granddaughter of Henry Mitchell, a Revolutionary War general for whom Mitchell County was named.
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.
Born hereOscar Branch Colquitt is born here
Born hereEdward Eugene Cox is born here
Born hereTiger Flowers is born here
In the archiveA Black Cook in the 1930s
In the archiveGeorgia [Effingham County (part) - Newton County (part)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Camilla. 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 Camilla.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Camilla’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 289 and 5,669 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Camilla’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Camilla’s post office has been open since 1859.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1858, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Camilla’s post office opened in 1859, and the census of 1870 counted 289 people here.
Camilla is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #127 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.
Three places: the James Price McRee House (listed 1979), the Camilla Commercial Historic District (1985) and the Williams, Georgia, Nursing Home (2011).
4% of Camilla’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (6), 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.
1940
2000
2000
2000
