Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #218 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Oakwood was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1910.
Oakwood dates its founding to 1873 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.
More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oakwood is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #218 of 263 in Georgia. 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 Oakwood’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 Oakwood’s history is told.
Oakwood’s post office has been open since 1898. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Oakwood.
Oakwood was originally founded as O'Dell's Crossing in 1873. It was later renamed to Oakwood in 1896 as wood-burning trains regularly stopped here for fuel resupplies.
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
2023GA13-GA332End
2015Student Center front lawn
2015Oakwood, Georgia Main Street
2015Oakwood, Georgia City Hall
2015Oakwood City Hall
2015Martha T. Nesbitt Academic Building
2015Lanier Technical College administrative offices
2015Lanier Technical College administrative building
2015Fountains - panoramio (2)
2005GAMap-doton-OakwoodEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oakwood. 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 Oakwood.
Grew from 110 people in 1910 to 4,822 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oakwood’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1873, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Oakwood’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1910 counted 110 people here.
Oakwood is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #218 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.
0.7% of Oakwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2004.
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 (10), 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.
