Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Cusseta

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Cusseta

Cusseta’s post office opened in 1837

Most of Cusseta was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1971 on.

1837first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: SaveRivers · Public domain
Quick answers

How Cusseta began

When was Cusseta founded?

1837

The Cusseta post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1853.

2020 census: 152189 years
Founding year: the first Cusseta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1853.

What stands out about Cusseta’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 Cusseta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Cusseta.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cusseta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cusseta’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
Timeline

Cusseta, 1837 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Cusseta post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1950Born hereBilly Earl McClelland is born here
  5. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Cusseta, in brief

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

Cusseta is a town in Chambers County, Alabama, United States. Situated between Opelika and Lanett, it was named for the ancient Creek Indian town of Cusseta. As of the 2020 census, Cusseta had a population of 152. Pat Garrett, the lawman famed for killing the outlaw Billy the Kid, was born near Cusseta in 1850. The community was believed to be unincorporated until 2006, when rediscovered documents indicated that Cusseta had been incorporated as a city in 1853. As the community diminished in size over the years, its status was forgotten. In 2007, Chambers County Probate Judge John Crowder signed the order reinstating the Town of Cusseta. The town council included Robert Gay, Ann Alsobrook,...

Its first post office opened in 1837. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 123 to 152 (+24%).

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

By decade

Cusseta, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Cusseta Alabama2011Cusseta AlabamaPat Garrett Historic Marker2008Pat Garrett Historic Marker
On the map

Cusseta on the map, 1971 to 1983

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

Cusseta on the 1971 USGS mapCusseta on the 1983 USGS map1971Cusseta 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 Cusseta.

Questions about Cusseta’s history

What year was Cusseta founded?

The Cusseta post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1853.

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 (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.