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History · Autaugaville

Autaugaville’s post office opened in 1850

Most of Autaugaville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1910.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: WillyT006 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Autaugaville began

When was Autaugaville founded?

1850

The Autaugaville post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 313 in 19102020 census: 795176 years
Founding year: the first Autaugaville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Autaugaville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Autaugaville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Autaugaville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Autaugaville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Autaugaville.

Read it all →

William Thompson, the first settler in what is now Autaugaville arrived around 1820 and built a gristmill and sawmill on Swift Creek, about three miles upriver from the Alabama River. One source says that the town incorporated in 1839, but another cites 1907. A cotton mill opened in 1849 on the banks of Swift Creek, and following upon the model of industrialist Daniel Pratt, the owner constructed housing for its employees, expanding the town. It grew further when many citizens from nearby Vernon relocated here to escape the floods and diseases to which that town was prone. By 1851, the town had a population of 351 and claimed four stores, two churches, and two schools.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Autaugaville, 1850 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Autaugaville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1936Born hereGeorge "Wild Child" Butler is born here
  5. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Autaugaville, decade by decade

Today1 recent
ALMap-doton-Autaugaville2004ALMap-doton-Autaugaville
On the map

Autaugaville on the map, 1957 to 1982

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

Autaugaville on the 1957 USGS mapAutaugaville on the 1975 USGS mapAutaugaville on the 1982 USGS map1957Autaugaville 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 Autaugaville.

People over time

Autaugaville, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 870

Between 313 and 870 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Autaugaville’s post office has been open since 1850.

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Autaugaville
JonesRocky HillSaint Joseph

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

Questions about Autaugaville’s history

What year was Autaugaville founded?

The Autaugaville post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (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) 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.