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–Not graded
History · Dunnavant

Half of Dunnavant’s homes were built after 1984

Most of Dunnavant was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1959 on.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Dunnavant’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 Dunnavant are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Dunnavant, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dunnavant’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dunnavant’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dunavant
1897–1958
Kendrick
1903–1928
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DunavantWinburn
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dunnavant
KendrixMount OlivePleasant RidgeSand Ridge

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

The story so far

Dunnavant, in brief

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

Dunnavant, also spelled Dunavant, is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in northern Shelby County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Dunnavant had a population of 936. The community's name is probably derived from a local family. A post office was established in 1897 and was in operation until it was closed in 1958.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 981 to 936 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Dunnavant, 1897 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Dunavant post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe Kendrick post office opens
  5. 1928Post officeThe Kendrick post office closes
  6. 1958Post officeThe Dunavant post office closes
  7. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Dunnavant on the map, 1959 to 1970

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

Dunnavant on the 1959 USGS mapDunnavant on the 1970 USGS map1959Vandiver 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 Dunnavant.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Shoal Creek1 historic placeC+VandiverIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLeeds3 historic placesB−Hoover1 historic placeCBirmingham147 historic placesA−

Questions about Dunnavant’s history

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 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.