Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gordon

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 · Gordon

Gordon’s post office opened in 1866

Most of Gordon was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1880.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gordon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gordon began

When was Gordon founded?

1866

The Gordon post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Open Pond (1846), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 150 in 18802020 census: 294160 years
Founding year: the first Gordon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gordon’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 493 in 1990; 294 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gordon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewFRONT AND SIDE VIEW, S.E. - Britt-Willi…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Gordon, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 493

Peaked at 493 in 1990; 294 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Gordon, in brief

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

Gordon is a town in Houston County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in February 1872. It is part of the Dothan, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Gordon had a population of 294.

Its first post office opened in 1866. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 332 to 294 (-11%).

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

Timeline

Gordon, 1846 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Open Pond post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Open Pond post office closes
  4. 1866Post officeThe Gordon post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1933In the archiveFRONT AND SIDE VIEW, S.E. - Britt-Williams-Borders House, Greenwood Street, Gordon, Houst…
  7. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 493
By decade

Gordon, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items
FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, S.E. - Britt-Williams-Borders House, Greenwood Street, Gordon, Houston County, AL HABS ALA,35-GORD…1933FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, S.E. - Britt-Williams-Borders Ho…FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, S.W. - Nunnley-Bowden House, State Route 95, Gordon, Houston County, AL HABS ALA,35-GORD.V,1-11933FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, S.W. - Nunnley-Bowden House, Sta…
1940s–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 unknown2 to date
Britt-Williams-Borders House, Greenwood StreetDate?Britt-Williams-Borders House, Greenwood StreetNunnley-Bowden House, State Route 95Date?Nunnley-Bowden House, State Route 95
Today6 recent
JR's Fireworks2026JR's FireworksGordon, Alabama Volunteer Fire Department2026Gordon, Alabama Volunteer Fire DepartmentGordon, Alabama Town Hall2026Gordon, Alabama Town HallGordon, Alabama Senior Citizens Center2026Gordon, Alabama Senior Citizens CenterGordon, Alabama Post Office2026Gordon, Alabama Post OfficeCSX Tifton Road crossing in2026CSX Tifton Road crossing in
On the map

Gordon on the map, 1970 to 1981

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

Gordon on the 1970 USGS mapGordon on the 1981 USGS map1970Gordon 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 Gordon.

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.

FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, S.E. - Britt-Williams-Borders House, Greenwood Street, Gordon, Houston County, AL HABS ALA,35-GORD…
Retake this viewFRONT AND SIDE VIEW, S.E. - Britt-Williams-Borders House, Greenwood Street, Gordon, Houston County, AL HABS ALA,35-GORD…, 1933

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Gordon’s post office has been open since 1866. Another post office, Open Pond, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Open Pond
1846–1866
Gordon
1866–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Philadelphia
1cemetery inside Gordon
Gordon

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

Questions about Gordon’s history

What year was Gordon founded?

The Gordon post office opened in 1866, 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 →
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 (8), the Library of Congress (2), 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.