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Old Fredonia Store Fredonia AlabamaPhoto: Rivers A. Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Fredonia

Fredonia’s post office opened in 1834, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Fredonia was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the New Hope Rosenwald School. Below: maps from 1907 on.

1834first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fredonia began

When was Fredonia founded?

1834

The Fredonia post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 198192 years
Founding year: the first Fredonia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fredonia’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 Fredonia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19073 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1981. Watch Fredonia change.Deep rootsA post office since 1834: 192 years of Fredonia.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fredonia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fredonia’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
On the map

Fredonia on the map, 1907 to 1981

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

Fredonia on the 1907 USGS mapFredonia on the 1971 USGS mapFredonia on the 1981 USGS map1907Opelika sheet · 1:125,000

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

Timeline

Fredonia, 1834 to 1907

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834Post officeThe Fredonia post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907Post officeThe Fredonia post office closes
  5. 1907On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Fredonia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fredonia.

Read it all →

From its foundation, Fredonia was the educational and trade center for the northeast section of Chambers County. The town was incorporated September 29, 1853. Sixteen businesses existed including a jug factory, hotels, taverns, blacksmith shop, tan yard, the "Temperance House" as well as the first established Methodist Church in the county. The Southern Military was established in the village by the Alabama State Legislature, but it was forced to close by the Civil War.

ChaptersIncorporation

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Fredonia, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Old Fredonia Store2011Old Fredonia Store
On the National Register

1 historic place in Fredonia

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
2001
New Hope Rosenwald School
New Hope Rosenwald School
Buildings
New Hope Rosenwald SchoolBuilding

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fredonia

Nobody well known was born in Fredonia itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Frederick Chapman RobbinsAmerican doctor · b. 1916
Elijah KelleyAmerican actor and singer · b. 1986
Robert Gibbs28th White House Press Secretary · b. 1971
John Malcolm Patterson44th Governor of Alabama · b. 1921
Forrest Hood James, Jr.American politician, 48th Governor of Alabama · b. 1934
B
Brian WestAmerican soccer player · b. 1978
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Fredonia had its own post office from 1834 to 1907.

Fredonia
1834–1907
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Thlakalchka Cholockominnelocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fredonia
New HopeSwint - Hammack

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

Questions about Fredonia’s history

What year was Fredonia founded?

The Fredonia post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Fredonia?

One place: the New Hope Rosenwald School (listed 2001).

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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.