Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Elmore

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
C−History
History · Elmore

Elmore’s post office opened in 1873

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Elmore was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1959 on, and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Elmore’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Elmore began

When was Elmore founded?

1873

The Elmore post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 106 in 18802020 census: 1,280153 years

How historic is Elmore?

C−

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Elmore post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Elmore’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elmore is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elmore’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.9% of homes (±1.9) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AL town 2.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 18%
NewerOlder

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 Elmore’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Elmore’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elmore’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGovernor Benjamin Fitzpatrick House, St…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Elmore, in brief

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

Elmore is a town in Elmore County, Alabama, United States. Although initially incorporated in 1906, it lapsed and was not reincorporated again until 1997. As of the 2020 census, Elmore had a population of 1,280. It is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1873. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,262 in 2010, 1,280 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Elmore, 1873 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Elmore post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1989Born hereAaron Traywick is born here
By decade

Elmore, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick House, State Route 14 vicinityDate?Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick House, State Route 14 v…
Today2 recent
Elmore, Alabama Town Hall2012Elmore, Alabama Town HallElmore, Alabama Post Office 360252012Elmore, Alabama Post Office 36025
On the map

Elmore on the map, 1959 to 1987

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

Elmore on the 1959 USGS mapElmore on the 1975 USGS mapElmore on the 1987 USGS map1959Elmore sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elmore.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick House, State Route 14 vicinity
Retake this viewGovernor Benjamin Fitzpatrick House, State Route 14 vicinity

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Elmore’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Elmore, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400188019001920194019601980200020201,280

Grew from 106 people in 1880 to 1,280 in 2020, more than tenfold.

4 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Elmore’s post office has been open since 1873.

Gone or out of use
Elmore Elmentary Schoolschool

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Millbrook2 historic placesCCoosadaIts storyC−DeatsvilleIts storyD

Questions about Elmore’s history

What year was Elmore founded?

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

How does Elmore rank for history?

Elmore is more historic than 18% 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.

How old are the homes in Elmore?

3% of Elmore’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1992.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1), 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.