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B−History
History · Albany

Albany dates to 1832, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 1870.

1832founded
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Albany’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Albany began

When was Albany founded?

1832

Albany dates its founding to 1832 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 480 in 18702020 census: 917194 years

How historic is Albany?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1827.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Albany’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Albany is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Albany’s overall grade.
Founding era1832, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194014.1% of homes (±5.6) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical OH town 2.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder

Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Albany’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). Two sources give 1832.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Albany’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19073 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1975. Watch Albany change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1832: 194 years of Albany.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Albany’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Albany’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Albany on the map, 1907 to 1975

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Albany. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Albany on the 1907 USGS mapAlbany on the 1960 USGS mapAlbany on the 1975 USGS map1907Pomeroy sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Albany.

Timeline

Albany, 1827 to 1991

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1827Post officeThe Lee post office opens
  3. 1832
    FoundingAlbany is established
  4. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-17, ED 5-18, …
  5. 1875Born hereEva del Vakia Bowles is born here
  6. 1898Post officeThe Lee post office closes
  7. 1898Post officeThe Albany post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1907On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1914In the archiveStreet in Albany, Athens County, Ohio, 1914 - DPLA - b721c2c06e18643bc676089405a4b088
  11. 1991Born hereJosiah Yazdani is born here
The story

How Albany came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Albany.

Read it all →

Albany was laid out in about 1832. It was incorporated as a village in 1842.

The small rural village had at least four routes leading into it and became a major stop in Athens County for the Underground Railroad, as fugitives could come upriver on the Hocking River from the Ohio River. Former slaves, many of whom had migrated from the Upper South to escape its slavery and discrimination, settled the village in the mid-19th century.

The black population increased during the 1850s from four in the township to 174 by 1860. In 1860, 70 members of the black community were from the South: 53 from Virginia and 17 from other slave states.

ChaptersAfrican American education in AlbanyMay 1911 Fire

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Albany, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-17, ED 5-18, ED 5-19, ED 5-20, ED 5-21, ED …18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio …
1910s1 item
Street in Albany, Athens County, Ohio, 1914 - DPLA - b721c2c06e18643bc676089405a4b0881914Street in Albany, Athens County, Ohio, 1914 - DPLA - …
1920s–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
Today5 recent
Downtown Fire May 19112021Downtown Fire May 1911C. David Snyder Terminal2020C. David Snyder TerminalMap of Athens County Ohio Highlighting Albany Village2015Map of Athens County Ohio Highlighting Albany VillageMapAlbanyOHJuly20072007AlbanyOHJuly2007OHMap-doton-Albany2004OHMap-doton-Albany
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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-17, ED 5-18, ED 5-19, ED 5-20, ED 5-21, ED …
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-17, ED 5-18, ED 5-19, ED 5-20, ED 5-21, ED …, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Albany’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Albany, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 917

Between 465 and 917 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Albany’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Albany

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Eva del Vakia BowlesAmerican teacher · b. 1875
J
Josiah YazdaniAmerican football player · b. 1991
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Albany’s post office has been open since 1898. Another post office, Lee, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lee
1827–1898
Albany
1898–today
18201920today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Albany’s history

What year was Albany founded?

In 1832, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Albany’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1870 counted 480 people here.

How does Albany rank for history?

Albany is more historic than 54% 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.

How old are the homes in Albany?

14% of Albany’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (7), 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.