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History · Fruithurst

Fruithurst’s post office opened in 1894, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1900.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Fruithurst began

When was Fruithurst founded?

1894

The Fruithurst post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Zidonia (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 374 in 19002020 census: 235132 years
Founding year: the first Fruithurst post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Fruithurst’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fruithurst’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

How Fruithurst came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fruithurst.

Read it all →

Fruithurst once had a reputation for being a notorious speed trap along US Highway 78. Abuse of policing reached such an extent that in 1975 Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley set up an office in the town, personally pledging to provide criminal defense to any person arrested or cited in the town. Additionally Reason magazine reported in May 2022 that, "...one case involved a woman arrested for traveling 58 in a 55-mph zone. She was also charged with transporting untaxed liquor—a half-empty miniature bottle of liqueur in her purse..." stating this was, "...both an abuse of law enforcement powers and a mockery of the very idea of legitimate traffic safety enforcement."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fruithurst, 1888 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Zidonia post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Fruithurst post office opens
  4. 1895Post officeThe Zidonia post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

Fruithurst on the map, 1966 to 1980

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

Fruithurst on the 1966 USGS mapFruithurst on the 1975 USGS mapFruithurst on the 1980 USGS map1966Fruithurst 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 Fruithurst.

People over time

Fruithurst, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 374

Between 177 and 374 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fruithurst

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

See all →
Michael BiehnAmerican actor · b. 1956
Sterling HollowayAmerican actor · b. 1905
Sam HuntAmerican singer and songwriter · b. 1984
Ruth ElderAmerican pilot and actress · b. 1902
Asa Earl CarterAmerican speech writer and novelist · b. 1925
L
Lucky MillinderAmerican bandleader · b. 1910
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Fruithurst’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Zidonia, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Zidonia
1888–1895
Fruithurst
1894–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Fruithurst’s history

What year was Fruithurst founded?

The Fruithurst 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 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.