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History · Daviston

Daviston’s post office opened in 1853

Most of Daviston was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1890.

1853first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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Photo: SaveRivers · Public domain
Quick answers

How Daviston began

When was Daviston founded?

1853

The Daviston post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1887.

First census: 141 in 18902020 census: 174173 years
Founding year: the first Daviston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1887.The full story ↓

What stands out about Daviston’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 Daviston are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18913 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1978. Watch Daviston change.Boom and bustPeaked at 334 in 1980; 174 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Daviston’s collection

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

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

Daviston on the map, 1891 to 1978

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

Daviston on the 1891 USGS mapDaviston on the 1969 USGS mapDaviston on the 1978 USGS map1891Ashland 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 Daviston.

People over time

Daviston, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 334

Peaked at 334 in 1980; 174 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Daviston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Daviston.

Read it all →

Daviston, incorporated February 16, 1887, is believed to be the first incorporated rural town in Tallapoosa County. The first mayor was J.D. Dunn. Daviston was a natural evolution of the opening of Indian lands in 1832. Much of the Federal Horse Path was within Creek Indian lands in 1832. With construction of Chapman Road from West Point, Georgia to Fort Williams, Alabama on the Coosa River, land areas opened up to white settlement.

ChaptersDaviston School

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Daviston, 1853 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Daviston post office opens
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 334
By decade

Daviston, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Daviston Alabama2011Daviston Alabama
Famous people

Famous people close to Daviston

Nobody well known was born in Daviston itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bob RileyAmerican politician · b. 1944
Terrell OwensAmerican football player · b. 1973
R
Robert Daniel CarmichaelAmerican mathematician · b. 1879
Jamario MoonAmerican basketball player · b. 1980
John Malcolm Patterson44th Governor of Alabama · b. 1921
Charles Allen CulbersonAmerican politician · b. 1855

Questions about Daviston’s history

What year was Daviston founded?

The Daviston post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1887.

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 (1), Wikipedia, 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.