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History · Akron

Akron dates to 1870, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1980 on, and the census since 1920.

1870founded
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Akron’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Akron began

When was Akron founded?

1870

Akron dates its founding to 1870 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 675 in 19202020 census: 225156 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1871.

What stands out about Akron’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 793 in 1930; 225 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Akron’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTanglewood, off Alabama 23: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Akron, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 793

Peaked at 793 in 1930; 225 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Akron, in brief

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

Akron () is a town in Hale County, Alabama, United States. On January 18, 1906, landowners Charles E. Waller, Charles Lichtman and M.H. Murphy sold at public auction a great number of individual business and residential lots which would be developed into the town of Akron, Alabama. Akron became the fastest growing town in Hale County, and in a few years had grown to include a modern post office, railroad depot, various retail businesses, barber shop, hotel, drug store, concrete and block factory, wheel spoke factory, lumber mills, and attractive residences. The town was incorporated in March 1918. As of the 2020 census, Akron had a population of 225. Akron has one site on the National Regis…

Akron was established in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 356 to 225 (-37%).

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

Timeline

Akron, 1870 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870
    FoundingAkron is established
  3. 1871Post officeThe Acron post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Acron post office closes
  5. 1894Post officeThe Akron post office opens
  6. 1898Born hereRiggs Stephenson is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 793
  9. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Akron, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Tanglewood, off Alabama 23Date?Tanglewood, off Alabama 23
On the map

Akron on the map, 1980 to 1990

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

Akron on the 1980 USGS mapAkron on the 1990 USGS map1980Moundville West sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Tanglewood, off Alabama 23
Retake this viewTanglewood, off Alabama 23

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Akron’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Acron, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Acron
1871–1883
Akron
1894–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Akron’s history

What year was Akron founded?

In 1870, according to Wikidata. Akron’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1920 counted 675 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (1), 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.