Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Comer was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 171 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1900.
The Comer post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Comer is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Comer’s 843 sits above most of its state (95% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 171 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Comer’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Comer. 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 Comer.
From Wikipedia’s history of Comer.
The present city of Comer was incorporated by an act of the Georgia Legislature on January 1, 1893.
The community was named for James Thomas Comer, Sr., (1849-1911), a founding settler.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2004Oblique perspective, due east by 70 degrees. Note con…
2004Oblique perspective of portal, due north. Bridge has …
2004Northwest by 320 degrees, with canal. - Watson Mill B…
2004Internal portal, eastern end. - Watson Mill Bridge, S…
2004Interior, midspan, northward. - Watson Mill Bridge, S…
2004Elevation, west portal. Sign on portal reads Watson M…
2004Elevation, west portal. - Watson Mill Bridge, Spannin…
2004Elevation, east southeast 110 degrees. - Watson Mill …
2004Below deck view from west abutment. - Watson Mill Bri…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 Comer’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 336 people in 1900 to 1,512 in 2020, 4 times over.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Comer’s Wikipedia page.
The Comer post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Comer is more historic than 64% 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.
Two places: the Smithonia (listed 1984) and the Comer Historic District (1995).
9% of Comer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
1940