Most of Double Springs was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Winston County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1950.
Founding year: the first Double Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Double Springs’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Double Springs is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Double Springs’ 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 Double Springs’ 9.4 sits above most of its state (66% 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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 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 Double Springs’ 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 Double Springs yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Double Springs is a town in Winston County, Alabama, United States. The city is the county seat of Winston County. The county seat was initially located at Houston, but by referendum in 1883, Double Springs prevailed and it was removed to there. It was incorporated on May 17, 1943. As of the 2020 census, Double Springs had a population of 1,119.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,083 to 1,119 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Double Springs, 1883 to 1969
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Double Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1969Double Springs 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 Double Springs.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Double Springs
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Double Springs post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Double Springs rank for history?
Double Springs is more historic than 39% 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.
What is on the National Register in Double Springs?
One place: the Winston County Courthouse (listed 1987).
How old are the homes in Double Springs?
6% of Double Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2014
2009
