Fairhope’s post office opened in 1889, and 15 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #81 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Fairhope was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. 15 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 193 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1921 on and the census since 1910.
The Fairhope post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1894. Two smaller post offices, Volanta (1904) and Seacliff (1913), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 590 in 19102020 census: 22,477137 years
How historic is Fairhope?
B−
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fairhope post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fairhope’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairhope is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #81 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fairhope’s 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 Fairhope’s 85.6 sits above most of its state (80% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 207 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1894 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Fairhope’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Fairhope’s post office has been open since 1889. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fairhope
1889–today
Volanta
1904–1912
Seacliff
1913–1920
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Autumn Park Mobile Home ParkCedarbreeze Mobile Home ParkEastern Shore Mobile Home VillageMagnolia BeachMontrosePecan Park Mobile Home ParkSeacliffVolantaWindsor Place Mobile Home ParkWinterhaven Court Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Klumpp Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fairhope
ColonyMemory Gardens of Fairhope
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Fairhope’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairhope’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Fairhope was founded on November 15, 1894, on the site of the former Alabama City as a Georgist "Single-Tax" colony by the Fairhope Industrial Association, a group of 28 followers of economist Henry George who had incorporated earlier that year in Des Moines, Iowa. Their corporate constitution explained their purpose in founding a new colony:
to establish and conduct a model community or colony, free from all forms of private monopoly, and to secure to its members therein equality of opportunity, the full reward of individual efforts, and the benefits of co-operation in matters of general concern.
The Fairhope post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1894.
How does Fairhope rank for history?
Fairhope is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #81 of 187 in Alabama. 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 Fairhope?
15 listings: 12 buildings, among them the Whittier Hall (listed 1985, the first), and 3 historic districts, the White Avenue Historic District, the Fairhope Bayfront District and the Fairhope Downtown Historic District, with 193 contributing buildings. 207 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Fairhope?
2% of Fairhope’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1998.
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 (1), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (15), 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.
2006
