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History · Elkmont

Elkmont’s post office opened in 1872, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Sulphur Trestle Fort Site. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
1on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elkmont began

When was Elkmont founded?

1872

The Elkmont post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1873. Another post office, Fort Hampton (1861), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 233 in 18802020 census: 411154 years
Founding year: the first Elkmont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1873.The full story ↓

What stands out about Elkmont’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 Elkmont are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1920 and 1960, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elkmont’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elkmont’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
People over time

Elkmont, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020261 in 1920Low: 169

Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1960, then more than doubled.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Elkmont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elkmont.

Read it all →

Elkmont began as a stop known as "Fort Hampton" along the newly-constructed Tennessee and Alabama Central Railroad in 1859. The name was changed to "Elkmont," after the elk that once flourished in the area, in 1866. The Tennessee and Alabama Central eventually became part of the L&N Railroad system, which built the current depot (now used as a community center) in 1887. The railroad tracks have since been removed, and are now part of the Richard Martin Trail. Elkmont incorporated in 1873.

During the Civil War, the Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle was fought just south of Elkmont in September 1864. The site is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Elkmont, 1861 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Fort Hampton post office opens
  3. 1872Post officeThe Fort Hampton post office closes
  4. 1872Post officeThe Elkmont post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1912Born hereHorace Elmo Nichols is born here
  7. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 470
By decade

Elkmont, decade by decade

Today18 recent
Elkmont-Belle-Chevre-Creamery-al2017Elkmont-Belle-Chevre-Creamery-alSulphur Creek Culvert2012Sulphur Creek CulvertSulfur Trestle Battlefield2011Sulfur Trestle BattlefieldHistoric buildings2010Historic buildingsHistoric buildings2010Historic buildingsHistoric buildings2010Historic buildingsHistoric buildings2010Historic buildingsHistoric buildings2010Historic buildingsHistoric buildings2010Historic buildingsHistoric buildings2010Historic buildingsHistoric buildings in2010Historic buildings inHistoric buildings in2010Historic buildings inHistoric buildings in2010Historic buildings inHistoric buildings in2010Historic buildings inHistoric buildings in2010Historic buildings inHistoric buildings in2010Historic buildings inHistoric buildings in2010Historic buildings inThe Birmingham News 2006 05 05 16 (1)2006The Birmingham News 2006 05 05 16 (1)
On the map

Elkmont on the map, 1936 to 1974

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

Elkmont on the 1936 USGS mapElkmont on the 1958 USGS mapElkmont on the 1974 USGS map1936Elkmont 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 Elkmont.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Elkmont

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Sulphur Trestle Fort Site
Sites
Sulphur Trestle Fort SiteSite

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Elkmont’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Fort Hampton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fort Hampton
1861–1872
Elkmont
1872–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Elkmont’s history

What year was Elkmont founded?

The Elkmont post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1873.

What is on the National Register in Elkmont?

One place: the Sulphur Trestle Fort Site (listed 1973).

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 (11), the Library of Congress (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.