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History · Blue Springs

Blue Springs’ post office opened in 1892

Most of Blue Springs was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1910.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Blue Springs began

When was Blue Springs founded?

1892

The Blue Springs post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Park (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 117 in 19102020 census: 84134 years
Founding year: the first Blue Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Blue Springs’ 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 Blue Springs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 167 in 1940; 84 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blue Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blue Springs’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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People over time

Blue Springs, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 167

Peaked at 167 in 1940; 84 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Blue Springs, in brief

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

Blue Springs is a town in southern Barbour County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 84. The town is the home of Blue Springs State Park.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 96 to 84 (-13%).

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

Timeline

Blue Springs, 1892 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Blue Springs post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Park post office opens
  4. 1898Post officeThe Park post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 167
  7. 1957Post officeThe Blue Springs post office closes
  8. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Blue Springs, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Blue Springs Alabama2011Blue Springs Alabama
On the map

Blue Springs on the map, 1969 to 1981

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

Blue Springs on the 1969 USGS mapBlue Springs on the 1981 USGS map1969Clio 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 Blue Springs.

Famous people

Famous people close to Blue Springs

Nobody well known was born in Blue Springs itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
George Wallace45th Governor of Alabama · b. 1919
Big Mama ThorntonAmerican rhythm and blues singer and songwriter · b. 1926
Katherine JacksonMatriarch of the Jackson musical family · b. 1930
Katie BrittUnited States Senator from Alabama since 2023 · b. 1982
Donna D'ErricoAmerican actress · b. 1968
Willie DavenportAmerican athletics competitor · b. 1943
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Blue Springs had its own post office from 1892 to 1957. Another post office, Park, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Blue Springs
1892–1957
Park
1895–1898
18901960today

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

Questions about Blue Springs’ history

What year was Blue Springs founded?

The Blue Springs post office opened in 1892, 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 →
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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), 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.