More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #114 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Choccolocco was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 2000.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1878.
History grade
What drives Choccolocco’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Choccolocco is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #114 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Choccolocco’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 Choccolocco’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1832.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Choccolocco’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Choccolocco yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Choccolocco is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Calhoun County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Choccolocco had a population of 2,838. It was founded in 1832. The name Choccolocco is an anglicization of the Creek words "chahko lago" ("big shoals") or "choko rakko" ("big house"); sources vary. The community gained brief notoriety in 2001 when The Daily Show aired a piece on the "Choccolocco Monster", a part of local folklore concerning sightings of a mysterious creature in the area in the late 1960s. An October 2001 article in the Anniston Star newspaper revealed that the creature was, in fact, local resident Neal Williamson. As a teenager, Williamson…
Choccolocco was established in 1832. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,804 in 2010, 2,838 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Choccolocco’s post office has been open since 1878.
Hamlets and corners on the map
HarmonyTooktocaugee
Gone or out of use
Mallory Milllocale
1cemetery inside Choccolocco
New Prospect
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Choccolocco’s history
What year was Choccolocco founded?
In 1832, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Choccolocco’s post office opened in 1878, and the census of 2000 counted 601 people here.
How does Choccolocco rank for history?
Choccolocco is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #114 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.
How old are the homes in Choccolocco?
0.3% of Choccolocco’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 2001.
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 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.
