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C−History
History · Coosada

Coosada was first counted by the census in 1880

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Coosada was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Quick answers

How Coosada began

When was Coosada founded?

1880

Coosada first appears in the census in 1880. Another post office, Coosada Station (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 45 in 18802020 census: 1,217146 years

How historic is Coosada?

C−

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Coosada’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coosada is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coosada’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 18%
NewerOlder

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 Coosada’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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 points).

Founding year: the first census (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 Coosada’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coosada’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story

How Coosada came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Coosada.

Read it all →

Coosawda was home to a Creek (Coushatta tribe) village called Koasati in the 18th and early 19th centuries. By invitation, many Chickamauga Cherokee followers of Dragging Canoe fled to the town during and following the American War of Independence. Coosada was the birthplace of influential Creek leader William Weatherford, who led the Red Stick uprising of 1813–1814. After that, the Native American population was removed to the west.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Coosada, 1817 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1817In the archive1817 Map of Mississippi and Alabama
  3. 1833Born hereGeorge G. McWhorter is born here
  4. 1871Post officeThe Coosada Station post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1950Post officeThe Coosada Station post office closes
  7. 1950Post officeThe Coosada post office opens
  8. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Coosada, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1810s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

On the map

Coosada on the map in 1972

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coosada.

Coosada on the 1972 USGS map1972Montgomery North 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 Coosada.

People over time

Coosada, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,382

Between 45 and 1,382 people in every census since 1880.

7 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Coosada’s post office has been open since 1950. Another post office, Coosada Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Coosada Station
1871–1950
Coosada
1950–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Coosada Elementary Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Coosada
BibbsGlennRives

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Coosada’s history

What year was Coosada founded?

The Coosada post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Coosada rank for history?

Coosada is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. 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 Coosada?

3% of Coosada’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1990.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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) 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.