Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns · #230 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Scottdale was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1980.
The Scottdale post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Scottdale is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #230 of 263 in Georgia. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Scottdale’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: 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 Scottdale’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Scottdale.
Scottdale is named for Colonel George Washington Scott, who founded the Scottdale Cotton Mill in the late 1800s. Colonel Scott arrived in DeKalb County from Florida, where he had previously owned a plantation, served in the Confederate Army, and unsuccessfully run for governor. Col. Scott was also a benefactor of the female seminary that became Agnes Scott College.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Scottdale. 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 Scottdale.
Between 8,636 and 10,698 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Scottdale’s Wikipedia page.
Scottdale’s post office has been open since 1900.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Scottdale post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Scottdale is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #230 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.
5% of Scottdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 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.
