The Gallant post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Clear Springs (1879) and Nash (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 869137 years
How historic is Gallant?
C−
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gallant post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Gallant’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gallant is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gallant’s overall grade.
Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Gallant’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Gallant’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Gallant’s post office has been open since 1889. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Clear Springs
1879–1906
Gallant
1889–today
Nash
1899–1903
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BethlehemClear SpringsNash
Gone or out of use
Nash Post Officepost officeTumlin Gap Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gallant
BethlehemConnGallant
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Gallant, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gallant yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Gallant, also known as Clear Springs or Greasy Cove, is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Etowah, and St. Clair counties, Alabama, United States. It lies west of the city of Gadsden, the county seat of Etowah County. As of the 2020 census, Gallant had a population of 869. It has a post office with the ZIP code 35972. Gallant was the name of a pioneer settler who came from Tennessee.
Its first post office opened in 1889. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 855 in 2010, 869 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Gallant, 1879 to 1906
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Gallant post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gallant rank for history?
Gallant is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Gallant?
2% of Gallant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1977.
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).
From 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.
