Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Irondale was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1910.
Irondale dates its founding to 1807 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.
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 Irondale’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Irondale. 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 Irondale.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereThomas W. Benoist is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Irondale.
Irondale was laid out in 1857 by John G. Scott, who built an iron furnace there. The town briefly changed its name to Savoy in 1906 to solve the problem of mail getting mixed up with the nearby towns of Ironton and Iron Mountain. A few years later the name was changed back to Irondale.
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.
Between 319 and 474 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Irondale’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1807, according to Wikidata. Irondale’s post office opened in 1859, and the census of 1910 counted 338 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From 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.
