Bessemer’s post office opened in 1887, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #39 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 68 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1890.
The Bessemer post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Jonesboro (1820), Sloss (1883) and Woodward (1886), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 4,544 in 18902020 census: 26,019139 years
How historic is Bessemer?
B+
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bessemer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bessemer’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bessemer is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #39 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bessemer’s overall grade.
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 Bessemer’s 29.1 sits above most of its state (72% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 74 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 (±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 Bessemer’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was founded in the Reconstruction Era by the Bessemer Land and Improvement Company, named after Henry Bessemer and owned by coal magnate Henry F. DeBardeleben. He had inherited Daniel Pratt's investments. The mayor and councilmen voted to incorporate the city of Bessemer on September 9, 1887. Located 15.3 miles southwest of Birmingham, Bessemer grew rapidly and its promoters believed that it might overtake the other city in economic power.
Given the iron ore, coal and limestone deposits in the area, the city became a center of steelmaking from about 1890 through the 20th century. It attracted rural migrants from across the South, as well as European immigrants. By the 1950s, the city was majority African American in population.
Passages that mention Bessemer, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical and statistical review and mailing and shipping guide of North Alabama (illustrated) embracing the cities of Birmingham, Anniston, Gadsden, Huntsville, Decatur, Tuscaloosa and Bessemer, with their manufacturing and mercantile industries ... and1888 · page 53Read the page →
Read the text
through Central Mississippi, and through Birmingham east and south. The Birmingham & Sheflield Railroad and the Mineral Railroad (both lately built) ■carry the coals of the West Warrior Field to local points, such as Sheffield and Bessemer. The Alabama Great Southern Railroad bounds the Warrior Field on the southeast, and passes through the Cahaba Field (the only coal on its line).
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical and statistical review and mailing and shipping guide of North Alabama (illustrated) embracing the cities of Birmingham, Anniston, Gadsden, Huntsville, Decatur, Tuscaloosa and Bessemer, with their manufacturing and mercantile industries ... and1888 · page 62Read the page →
Read the text
enough to suit the fastidious taste of the invention was found, and cost $10 per ton free on board at furnace. This price is strongly contrasted with the Bessemer pig, costing $17.50 at furnace, or of the $1.25 ore to make the pig with tlie $3.50 to $5.50 Bessemer ore, or the $1 labor against the $1.50 or $1.75. This company has decided to increase the capital stock and build some larger furnaces. It is not claimed that this furnace is especially designed to supersede the Bessemer or Basic process, but it is especially adapted to our ores and pig iron, and as to relative cost is not within the province of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Bessemer, 1820 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bessemer. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Bessemer Iron 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 Bessemer.
Every building
Bessemer, building by building, 1888–1924
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.
The Bessemer post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bessemer rank for history?
Bessemer is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #39 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 Bessemer?
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Thomas McAdory House (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Downtown Bessemer Historic District, with 68 contributing buildings. 74 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bessemer?
20% of Bessemer’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 1963.
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 (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
1880
