Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1860.
Morgan dates its founding to 1854 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Morgan is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Morgan’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Morgan’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1880, then grew more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Morgan’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Morgan.
Morgan was founded in 1854 as seat of the newly formed Calhoun County. It was incorporated as a city in 1856. The city was named after Hiram Morgan, a county official.
From 1923 to 1929, Morgan was replaced as county seat by Arlington, Georgia after a referendum. It became county seat again after an additional referendum.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCalhoun County Georgia CourthouseOne decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2014Untitled photo
2014Former Gas Station, GA 37
2014Farm Bureau, Calhoun County
2014Calhoun County Sheriff's Dept
2014Calhoun County Historical Marker
2014Calhoun County Health Department
2014Calhoun County Fire Headquarters
2014Calhoun County EMS
2014Calhoun County Courthouse
2014Calhoun County Board of Education
2005GAMap-doton-MorganEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Morgan. 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 Morgan.
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 Morgan’s page.
Retake this view · +15In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Morgan’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1860 counted 187 people here.
Morgan is more historic than 30% 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.
13% of Morgan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (12), Wikipedia, 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.
