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History · Camp Hill

Camp Hill’s post office opened in 1849, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1890.

1849first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Rivers Langley · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Camp Hill began

When was Camp Hill founded?

1849

The Camp Hill post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 366 in 18902020 census: 1,006177 years
Founding year: the first Camp Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Camp Hill’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 Camp Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,628 in 1980; 1,006 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1981. Watch Camp Hill change.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Camp Hill.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Camp Hill’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Camp Hill, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,628

Peaked at 1,628 in 1980; 1,006 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

On the map

Camp Hill on the map, 1906 to 1981

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

Camp Hill on the 1906 USGS mapCamp Hill on the 1971 USGS mapCamp Hill on the 1981 USGS map1906Dadeville sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Camp Hill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Camp Hill.

Read it all →

On July 15, 1931, a white mob, led by Tallapoosa County sheriff Kyle Young and Camp Hill police chief J. M. Wilson—who voiced his desire to “kill every member of the ‘Reds’ there and throw them into the creek,” raided a meeting of the Alabama Sharecroppers' Union (communist front) which was being held in a church in Camp Hill. A shootout between the mob and communist union members followed; SCU member Ralph Gray was murdered, his home burned, and his burned corpse was dumped on the courthouse steps. Dozens of communist black men and women were killed, lynched or injured, and at least thirty communist sharecroppers were later arrested. According to Hosea Hudson, all those arrested were eventually released without trial due to public and international pressure from communist aligned agencies—albeit too late to have a chance at raising a crop that year.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Camp Hill, 1849 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Camp Hill post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1924Born hereBill Higdon is born here
  6. 1947Born hereSylvia Bozeman is born here
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,628
By decade

Camp Hill, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Camp Hill Rainbow2024Camp Hill Rainbow2021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Winter's Grocery20212021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Winter's Grocery2021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Volunteer Fire Department20212021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Volunteer Fire Department2021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Town Hall20212021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Town Hall2021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Post Office20212021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Post Office2021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - First Universalist Church of20212021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - First Universalist Church …2021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - Downtown20212021-03-12 Camp Hill, AL - DowntownTallapoosa Hall at Lyman Ward Military Academy2012Tallapoosa Hall at Lyman Ward Military AcademyTallapoosa Hall, Lyman Ward Military Academy2008Tallapoosa Hall, Lyman Ward Military AcademyLyman Ward Military Academy2008Lyman Ward Military AcademyCamp Hill Alabama2008Camp Hill AlabamaALMap-doton-CampHill2004ALMap-doton-CampHill
Every building

Camp Hill, building by building, 1928

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 sheet.

Camp Hill fire insurance map, 1928, sheet 11928Sheet 1 of 4
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Camp Hill

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

See all →
S
Sylvia BozemanAmerican mathematician · b. 1947
B
Bill HigdonMajor League Baseball player · b. 1924
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Camp Hill’s post office has been open since 1849.

Gone or out of use
Camp Hill High SchoolschoolCamp Hill-Tallapoosa County Airportairport

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

Questions about Camp Hill’s history

What year was Camp Hill founded?

The Camp Hill post office opened in 1849, 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 (12), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.