Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gainesville

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Gainesville

Gainesville’s post office opened in 1833, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

8 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 27 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.

1833first post office
8on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gainesville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gainesville began

When was Gainesville founded?

1833

The Gainesville post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Paynesville (1839), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,500 in 18502020 census: 172193 years
Founding year: the first Gainesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gainesville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Gainesville Historic District takes in 22 historic buildings.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1884 to 1925, drew every building in Gainesville.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.Deep rootsA post office since 1833: 193 years of Gainesville.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

8 listings protect 32 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
32
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Col. Green G. Mobley House
Col. Green G. Mobley HouseGainesville Historic DistrictGibbs HouseMain-Yankee Street Historic DistrictCoffin ShopColgin HillLaura Watson HousePark and Bandstand
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival4
Federal2
Vernacular1
Carpenter Gothic1
Italianate1
Col. Green G. Mobley HouseGreek Revival
Gainesville Historic DistrictFederal
Gibbs HouseBuilding
Main-Yankee Street Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Coffin ShopBuilding
All 8 listings
Colgin HillBuilding · listed 1985Laura Watson HouseBuilding · listed 1985Park and BandstandStructure · listed 1985

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

Every building

Gainesville, building by building, 1884–1925

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Gainesville fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Gainesville, in brief

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

Gainesville is a town in Sumter County, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1832, it was incorporated in 1835. As of the 2020 census, Gainesville had a population of 172. Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest surrendered his men near Gainesville on May 19, 1865, at the Civil War's end.

Its first post office opened in 1833. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 208 to 172 (-17%).

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

Timeline

Gainesville, 1833 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833Post officeThe Gainesville post office opens
  3. 1835Born hereAlexander White Baldwin is born here
  4. 1839Post officeThe Paynesville post office opens
  5. 1867Post officeThe Paynesville post office closes
  6. 1896Born hereJaybird Coleman is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1916Born hereFrances C. Roberts is born here
  9. 1939Born hereBuck Buchanan is born here
  10. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1989In the archiveDetail view of upper chord connections, view south - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee …
By decade

Gainesville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s8 items
Detail view of upper chord connections, view south - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama State Highway…1989Detail view of upper chord connections, view south - …Detail view of upper diagonal and vertical members, center of main truss, view north - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombig…1989Detail view of upper diagonal and vertical members, c…Detail view of upper diagonal members and rails, view north - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama Stat…1989Detail view of upper diagonal members and rails, view…View of approach and main span, view northeast - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama State Highway 9, …1989View of approach and main span, view northeast - Tutw…View of approach span, main truss in background, view southwest - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama …1989View of approach span, main truss in background, view…View of main span, view northeast - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama State Highway 91989View of main span, view northeast - Tutwiler Bridge, …View of main truss, view northeast - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama State Highway 91989View of main truss, view northeast - Tutwiler Bridge,…View of understructure of main and approach spanns, view west - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama St…1989View of understructure of main and approach spanns, v…
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama State Highway 9Date?Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama …
Today5 recent
AL39 North at AL116 West Signs in2021AL39 North at AL116 West Signs inGibbs House, Gainesville, AL, 2017-07-012017Gibbs House, Gainesville, AL, 2017-07-01Park in2011Park inConfederate soldiers cemetery at2011Confederate soldiers cemetery atALMap-doton-Gainesville2004ALMap-doton-Gainesville
On the map

Gainesville on the map, 1970 to 1986

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

Gainesville on the 1970 USGS mapGainesville on the 1986 USGS map1970Gainesville 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 Gainesville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Detail view of upper chord connections, view south - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama State Highway…
Retake this viewDetail view of upper chord connections, view south - Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama State Highway…, 1989

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gainesville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Gainesville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001850190019502000Peak: 1,500

Between 172 and 1,500 people in every census since 1850.

16 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Gainesville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Buck BuchananPlayer of American football · b. 1939
J
Jaybird ColemanAmerican country blues musician · b. 1896
A
Alexander White BaldwinUnited States federal judge · b. 1835
F
Frances C. RobertsAmerican historian · b. 1916
Maria FearingEducator and missionary · b. 1838
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Gainesville’s post office has been open since 1833. Another post office, Paynesville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gainesville
1833–today
Paynesville
1839–1867
18301930today
1cemetery inside Gainesville
Odd Fellows

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

Help out

Finish Gainesville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewDetail view of upper chord connections,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Gainesville’s history

What year was Gainesville founded?

The Gainesville post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Gainesville?

8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Col. Green G. Mobley House (listed 1982, the first), 2 historic districts, the Gainesville Historic District and the Main-Yankee Street Historic District, with 27 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 32 historic buildings in all.

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 (13), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.