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History · Fort Novosel

Fort Novosel dates to 1942

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1970.

1942founded
0on the National Register
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fort Novosel’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fort Novosel began

When was Fort Novosel founded?

1942

Fort Novosel dates its founding to 1942 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1970.

First census: 14,242 in 197084 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓

What stands out about Fort Novosel’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.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Fort Novosel, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fort Novosel’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAH-64A at Fort Rucker Sep 1999: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Summer Hill, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Allen HeightsBowden TerraceMunson Heights
Gone or out of use
Beulah SchoolschoolDaleville StationlocaleSummer Hill Churchchurch
1cemetery inside Fort Novosel
Beulah

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

The story

How Fort Novosel came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fort Novosel.

Read it all →

The original name of the post was Ozark Triangular Division Camp, but before the camp was officially opened during World War II on 1 May 1942, the War Department named it Camp Rucker. The post was named in honor of Colonel Edmund W. Rucker, a Civil War Confederate officer, who was given the honorary title of "General," and who became an industrial leader in Birmingham after the war.

Fort Rucker (situated on 58,000 acres (235 km2) of sub-marginal farmland, and formerly a wildlife refuge) was opened on 1 May 1942 as "Camp Rucker". It had quarters for 3,280 officers and 39,461 enlisted personnel.

ChaptersRenaming

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fort Novosel, 1857 to 1999

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Summer Hill post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Summer Hill post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1942
    FoundingFort Novosel is established
  6. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1999In the archiveAH-64A at Fort Rucker Sep 1999
By decade

Fort Novosel, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
AH-64A at Fort Rucker Sep 19991999AH-64A at Fort Rucker Sep 1999
Today5 recent
23d Flying Training Squadron UH-1200923d Flying Training Squadron UH-1Aviation Training Exercise II DVIDS794322008Aviation Training Exercise II DVIDS79432Brady, Packett, and Wetzel2007Brady, Packett, and WetzelAlabama 1-50,000. Fort Rucker military installation map2007Alabama 1-50,000. Fort Rucker military installation m…MapALMap-doton-FortRucker2004ALMap-doton-FortRucker
On the map

Fort Novosel on the map, 1948 to 1980

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

Fort Novosel on the 1948 USGS mapFort Novosel on the 1950 USGS mapFort Novosel on the 1960 USGS mapFort Novosel on the 1980 USGS map1948Ozark 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 Fort Novosel.

People over time

Fort Novosel, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,000198020002020Peak: 14,242

Between 4,464 and 14,242 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

DalevilleIts storyC

Questions about Fort Novosel’s history

What year was Fort Novosel founded?

In 1942, according to Wikidata. Fort Novosel’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1970 counted 14,242 people here.

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 (6), Wikipedia, 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.