Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1876.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 73% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Albany’s overall grade.
Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Albany’s 184 sits above most of its state (97% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 34 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points). Two sources give 1874.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Albany. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Albany sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Albany.
Every building
Albany, building by building, 1885–1922
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Established in 1873, Albany was named by county clerk William Cruger after his former home of Albany, Georgia.
Lieutenant Colonel William Dyess, survivor of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and namesake of Dyess Air Force Base, was born in Albany on August 9, 1916.
Major General Robert B. Williams, who led the World War II aerial bombing raid on Schweinfurt, Germany, was born in Albany on November 9, 1901.
In 1874, according to Wikidata. Albany’s post office opened in 1876, and the census of 1880 counted 129 people here.
How does Albany rank for history?
Albany is more historic than 73% 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.
What is on the National Register in Albany?
One place: the Shackelford County Courthouse Historic District (listed 1976).
How old are the homes in Albany?
17% of Albany’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
