Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Gordon was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Its Register listing is the Elam-Camp House. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1880.
The Gordon post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gordon is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its age holds 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 Gordon’s 4.0 sits near the middle of its state (43% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gordon’s history is told.
Peaked at 2,768 in 1980; 1,783 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gordon’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gordon.
Gordon was founded in 1843 as a depot on the Central of Georgia Railway. The city was named after William Washington Gordon, a railroad official.
On April 3rd, 2017, Gordon was impacted by an EF2 tornado, causing severe damage to multiple businesses and a local park. The tornado caused $100,000 in damages. Nobody was killed or injured.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Gordon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
We appreciate the kind hospitality of the people in Gordon, and vicinity. Their kindness and popular favor won me the distinction of serving twice as Alderman of the City of Gordon ; President and Vice-President of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Gordon; Worshipful Master of the Gordon Lodge No. 240 F. & A. M. also recently elected Council-Commander of the W. O. W.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
mainder. The county then consisted of the narrow strip lying below Fort Wilkinson, and east of the Old Indian Boundary Line which passes through the city limits of the town of Gordon, thence near White Springs, Bethel, and Pleasant Plains churches, touching Turkey Creek near Horace Adams, and on down the creek to its mouth below Dublin.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gordon. 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 Gordon.
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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Gordon post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Gordon is more historic than 57% 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.
One place: the Elam-Camp House (listed 1982).
7% of Gordon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2024
2005
