Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Alcolu was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979.
The Alcolu post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Harvin (1906), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Alcolu’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Alcolu.
Alcolu was established between 1885 and 1890 by D.W. Alderman as a company mill town for his timber company and lumber mill. The name Alcolu is derived from "AL" for Alderman, "CO" for Algernon Coldwell, a friend and brother-in-law, and "LU" for Lula, Alderman's daughter.
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 herePressley Harvin III is born hereWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Alcolu’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Harvin, 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 Alcolu post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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, 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.