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History · Fruitdale

Fruitdale’s post office opened in 1894, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1974 on.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Fruitdale began

When was Fruitdale founded?

1894

The Fruitdale post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 175132 years
Founding year: the first Fruitdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fruitdale’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 Fruitdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fruitdale’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Fruitdale, in brief

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

Fruitdale is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Washington County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Fruitdale had a population of 175. Fruitdale High School serves K-12 students in the area. In November 2022, the town was struck by an EF3 Tornado.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 185 to 175 (-5%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Fruitdale on the map, 1974 to 1984

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

Fruitdale on the 1974 USGS mapFruitdale on the 1984 USGS map1974Fruitdale 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 Fruitdale.

Questions about Fruitdale’s history

What year was Fruitdale founded?

The Fruitdale post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.