The story
Read it all →How Porterdale came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Porterdale.
Porterdale was incorporated on March 10, 1917, and was named after Oliver S. Porter, a local mill owner.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Porterdale
Porterdale’s post office opened in 1890, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 496 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1920.
1890first post office
1on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Quick answers
How Porterdale began
When was Porterdale founded?
1890
The Porterdale post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 2,880 in 19202020 census: 1,799136 years
How historic is Porterdale?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Porterdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Porterdale’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Porterdale is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Porterdale’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194057.2% of homes (±17.9) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register1 listing, 496 historic buildings, 3,383 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 91%
NewerOlder
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 Porterdale’s 3,383 sits above most of its state (100% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 496 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±17.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Porterdale’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · On the National Register
1 listing protects 496 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
496
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Porterdale Historic District
Districts
Architectural styles listings
Colonial Revival1
Late Gothic Revival1
Tudor Revival1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Saddlebag House1
Gabled-Ell Cottage1
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Help out
Start Porterdale’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Porterdale’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Porterdale, 1880 to 1964
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1880
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Georgia (GA) - Newton County - Porterdale - ED 10… - 1890Post officeThe Porterdale post office opens
- 1893Born hereTiny Osborne is born here
- 20th century
- 1944
Born hereRaymond Moody is born here - 1964
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Porterdale, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
2015
2015
2015
2015
2005On the map
Porterdale on the map, 1964 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Porterdale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1964Porterdale sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Porterdale.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Georgia (GA) - Newton County - Porterdale - ED 107-2 to 6, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Porterdale’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Porterdale, census by census
Between 1,278 and 3,207 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Porterdale’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Porterdale
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old corners
Porterdale’s post office has been open since 1890.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Newton Woods
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Porterdale’s history
What year was Porterdale founded?
The Porterdale post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Porterdale rank for history?
Porterdale is more historic than 91% 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.
What is on the National Register in Porterdale?
One place: the Porterdale Historic District (listed 2001).
How old are the homes in Porterdale?
57% of Porterdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±17.9 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1938.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (6), 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) 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.