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C−History
History · Adamsville

Adamsville’s post office opened in 1890

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #125 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Most of Adamsville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Adamsville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Adamsville began

When was Adamsville founded?

1890

The Adamsville post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Coal Creek (1859), Bessie Mines (1891) and Maben (1908), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 649 in 19102020 census: 4,366136 years

How historic is Adamsville?

C−

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Adamsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Adamsville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Adamsville is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #125 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Adamsville’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.2% of homes (±2.3) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AL town 2.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 19%
NewerOlder
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 33%

Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Adamsville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama 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 still be C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Adamsville’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Adamsville, and 12 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19044 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1993. Watch Adamsville change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Adamsville’s post office has been open since 1890. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Coal Creek
1859–1859
Adamsville
1890–today
Bessie Mines
1891–1893
Maben
1908–1956
Flattop
1914–1955
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BessieBessie JunctionFlat TopGlasgowGrays GardensLongview EstatesLongview Mobile Home ParkMidwayOakwoodUnion GroveWestwood Garden EstatesWestwood Trailer Court
Gone or out of use
BannerlocaleBessie Elementary SchoolschoolBessie MinemineCoal Creek MinemineDocena Slope MinemineFlat Top MinemineFlat Top MinemineGlover FerrycrossingLindbergh MinemineMaben Elementary SchoolschoolMount Arat ChurchchurchSimmons AirportairportWarner MinemineWoodruff Mill Minemine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Adamsville
MabenMidwayUnion Grove

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

On the map

Adamsville on the map, 1904 to 1993

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

Adamsville on the 1904 USGS mapAdamsville on the 1959 USGS mapAdamsville on the 1970 USGS mapAdamsville on the 1993 USGS map1904Birmingham Coal District 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 Adamsville.

By decade

Adamsville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s12 items
George Marquis, foreman, at this mine. He expects to change jobs soon. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Adamsville, Jefferson…1946George Marquis, foreman, at this mine. He expects to …DocumentBackyard of home of Butler Phillips, miner, who lives in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter... …1946Backyard of home of Butler Phillips, miner, who lives…Bedroom home of Alvis New, miner who lives in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter Mine... - NARA…1946Bedroom home of Alvis New, miner who lives in company…Bedroom of Eddie Cain, miner, who lives in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter Mine... - NARA - …1946Bedroom of Eddie Cain, miner, who lives in company ho…Detail of kitchen in home of Eddie Cain, Negro miner, who lives in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman... - N…1946Detail of kitchen in home of Eddie Cain, Negro miner,…Eddie Cain, miner, looking over his bills in his home in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter... …1946Eddie Cain, miner, looking over his bills in his home…George Marquis, foreman, at this mine. He expects to change jobs soon. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Adamsville, Jefferson…1946George Marquis, foreman, at this mine. He expects to …Home of Alvis New, miner, living in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter Mine, Adamsville, Jeffer…1946Home of Alvis New, miner, living in company housing p…Home of Butler Phillips, ... miner, who lives in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter Mine... - N…1946Home of Butler Phillips, ... miner, who lives in comp…Home of Eddie Cain, miner, ... living in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter Mine, Adamsville...…1946Home of Eddie Cain, miner, ... living in company hous…Home of Negro miner living in company housing project with slag pole in rear. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter Mine...…1946Home of Negro miner living in company housing project…Home of Negro miner living in company housing project with slag pole in rear. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter Mine...…1946Home of Negro miner living in company housing project…
1950s–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
The story so far

Adamsville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Adamsville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Adamsville is a city in western Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is north from the Birmingham suburb of Pleasant Grove. It initially incorporated in 1901 (although the 1910 U.S. Census stated 1900), but disincorporated in 1915. It later reincorporated in 1953. As of the 2020 census, Adamsville had a population of 4,366.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,522 to 4,366 (-3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Adamsville, 1859 to 1992

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1859Post officeThe Coal Creek post office opens
  3. 1859Post officeThe Coal Creek post office closes
  4. 1890Post officeThe Adamsville post office opens
  5. 1891Post officeThe Bessie Mines post office opens
  6. 1893Post officeThe Bessie Mines post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1921Born hereHenry E. Erwin is born here
  10. 1946In the archiveGeorge Marquis, foreman, at this mine. He expects to change jobs soon. Adams, Rowe & Norm…
  11. 1992Born hereChristion Jones is born here
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.

Backyard of home of Butler Phillips, miner, who lives in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter... …
Retake this viewBackyard of home of Butler Phillips, miner, who lives in company housing project. Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc., Porter... …, 1946

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Adamsville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,965

Between 649 and 4,965 people in every census since 1910.

9 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Adamsville

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

See all →
H
Henry E. ErwinUS Army Air Forces NCO and Medal of Honor recip… · b. 1921
C
Christion JonesAmerican football running back and kick returner · b. 1992
J
Jim KingAmerican football coach, player
Help out

Finish Adamsville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBackyard of home of Butler Phillips, mi…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

ForestdaleIts storyC−GraysvilleIts storyC−BrooksideIts storyCBirmingham147 historic placesA−West JeffersonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMaytownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Adamsville’s history

What year was Adamsville founded?

The Adamsville post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Adamsville rank for history?

Adamsville is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #125 of 187 in Alabama. 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 Adamsville?

3% of Adamsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 (12), 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.