Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Richland was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 144 buildings. Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1890.
The Richland post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Chisholm (1833), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richland is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. 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 Richland’s 991 sits above most of its state (96% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 158 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Richland’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1903Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Richland.
The community took its name from the local Richland Baptist Church, the name of which most likely is a transfer from Richland, South Carolina, the native home of a large share of the first settlers. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Richland in 1889.
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.
Born hereMary Prince is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2012Richland, GA
2012Richland, GA Post Office (31825)
2012Richland First Baptist Church (c. 1912)
2012Richland Depot (City Hall) (c. 1890)
2012Peoples Bank (c. 1905)
2012Nathaniel Prothro Plantation;
2012M.P. Wall House (c. 1922)
2012Henry Audulph House (c. 1842)
2012Dr. Thomas B. Miller House
2012Arthur A. French House (c. 1914)
2005GAMap-doton-RichlandEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Richland. 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 Richland.
Between 457 and 1,823 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Richland’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Richland’s post office has been open since 1839. Another post office, Chisholm, 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).
The Richland post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Richland is more historic than 84% 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Smith-Alston House (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Richland Historic District, with 144 contributing buildings. 158 historic buildings in all.
9% of Richland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (11), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
