Columbiana’s post office opened in 1828, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #63 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Columbiana was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the Columbiana City Hall. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1880.
The Columbiana post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Columbia (1828), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 496 in 18802020 census: 4,462198 years
How historic is Columbiana?
B
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Columbiana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Columbiana’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Columbiana is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #63 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Columbiana’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 Columbiana’s 2.1 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 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 Columbiana’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Columbiana, originally called Columbia, was selected as the county seat of Shelby County in 1826 over rivals Calera and Montevallo. After the selection as the county seat, Columbiana celebrated by drilling holes in a large pine tree and packing it with gunpowder. The tree was blown up and the sound could be heard for miles. Later in 1826, the courthouse was moved to an old school building in Columbiana.
An act of the Alabama Legislature officially changed the name of Shelby County's county seat to Columbiana on January 13, 1832. Columbiana was incorporated on December 5, 1837, with corporate limits one-quarter of a mile in each direction from the public square.
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.
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.
1909Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewEXTERIOR VIEW, LOOKING WEST, OF CAST IRON FENCE AND MARBLE MONUMENTS IN THIS GRAVE PLOT IN THE COLUMBIANA CEMETERY WHIC…, 1933
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Columbiana’s page.
The Columbiana post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Columbiana rank for history?
Columbiana is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #63 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 Columbiana?
One place: the Columbiana City Hall (listed 1974).
How old are the homes in Columbiana?
5% of Columbiana’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (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), 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.
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