Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #150 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Lyons was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listings are the Lyons Woman's Club House and the Robert and Missouri Garbutt House. Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1900.
The Lyons post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lyons is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #150 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 Lyons’ 9.5 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 Lyons’s history is told.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lyons.
Lyons was founded c. 1890 as a depot on the Central of Georgia Railway. The community was named after Mr. Lyons, a railroad official. It was incorporated on December 9, 1897. In 1905, Lyons was designated seat of the newly formed Toombs County.
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.
BuiltLyons Woman's Club House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBorn hereCraig Campbell is born hereBorn hereJeremy Beasley is born here
2015Shelter near train
2015Original Toombs County Courthouse corner stone
2015Lyons limit GA292EB
2015Lyons Water tower
2015Lyons City Hall
2015Christmas tree, flagpole
2014GA178eRoadSign
2011Yorke Motel, U. S. Highway 1 . . . 3 blocks north of
2011Toombs County Court House, Lyons, Ga
2011Post office, Lyons, Ga
2011High school, Lyons, Ga
2011First Baptist Church and Pastorium, Lyons, Ga
2011Colonial House, Lyons, Ga
2011Bridge over Pendleton Creek entering Lyons, Ga
2011Altamaha River forming Toombs County line, Lyons, Ga
2005Lyons-GA
2005GAMap-doton-LyonsEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lyons. 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 Lyons.
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.
Between 534 and 4,502 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lyons’ Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lyons post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Lyons is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #150 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.
Two places: the Lyons Woman's Club House (listed 1985) and the Robert and Missouri Garbutt House (2000).
4% of Lyons’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (17), 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.
