History · Alexandria

Alexandria’s post office opened in 1834, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns · #68 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Most of Alexandria was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listing is the Greenwood. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1947 on, and the census since 1880.

1834first post office

1on the National Register

4%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Alexandria’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Alexandria began

When was Alexandria founded?

1834

The Alexandria post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mahlep (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 121 in 18802020 census: 4,032192 years

How historic is Alexandria?

B⁻

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Alexandria post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Alexandria’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alexandria is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #68 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alexandria’s overall grade.

Founding era1834, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19403.5% of homes (±3.5) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%C⁻National Register1 listing, 2.9 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 53%

NewerOlder

Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 64%

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 Alexandria’s 2.9 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±3.5 points). 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 Alexandria’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.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Alexandria, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1834: 192 years of Alexandria.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alexandria’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alexandria’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.+2 Retake an old viewGreen-Woodruff House: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Places that used to be

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

Alexandria’s post office has been open since 1834. Another post office, Mahlep, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alexandria

1834–today

Mahlep

1899–1901

18301930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

BrutonvilleMahlepMelrosePost Oak

Gone or out of use

Mount Ariah Churchchurch

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alexandria

Alexandria United Methodist ChurchBethelGladdenMount Zion

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

Timeline

Alexandria, 1834 to 1987

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

19th century
1834Post officeThe Alexandria post office opens
1838Born hereJohn Pelham is born here
1842BuiltGreenwood is built
1899Post officeThe Mahlep post office opens
20th century
1901Post officeThe Mahlep post office closes
1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1987Born hereT. J. Heath is born here

The story so far

Alexandria, in brief

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

Alexandria is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Calhoun County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,032. It is included in the Anniston–Oxford, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1834. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,917 to 4,032 (+3%).

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

By decade

Alexandria, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date

Date?Green-Woodruff House

On the map

Alexandria on the map, 1947 to 1972

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

1947Wellington 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 Alexandria.

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.

Retake this viewGreen-Woodruff House

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Alexandria

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1989

Greenwood

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1

GreenwoodGreek Revival · Built 1842

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Alexandria, census by census

Grew from 121 people in 1880 to 4,032 in 2020, more than tenfold.

4 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Alexandria

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

See all →

John PelhamAmerican artillery officer with the Confederate… · b. 1838

T. J. HeathAmerican football player · b. 1987

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

SaksIts storyC⁻

Questions about Alexandria’s history

What year was Alexandria founded?

The Alexandria post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Alexandria rank for history?

Alexandria is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #68 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.

What is on the National Register in Alexandria?

One place: the Greenwood (listed 1989).

How old are the homes in Alexandria?

4% of Alexandria’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1989.

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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.

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