Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gulf Shores

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
Gulf Shores, Alabama (beach)Photo: Please attribute this image as the work of "DiscoverWithDima." · CC BY-SA 4.0
DHistory
History · Gulf Shores

Gulf Shores’ post office opened in 1947, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #151 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Most of Gulf Shores was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Its Register listing is the Nicholson House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1978 on, and the census since 1960.

1947first post office
1on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gulf Shores’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gulf Shores began

When was Gulf Shores founded?

1947

The Gulf Shores post office opened in 1947, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 356 in 19602020 census: 15,01479 years

How historic is Gulf Shores?

D

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Gulf Shores post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Gulf Shores’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gulf Shores is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #151 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gulf Shores’ overall grade.
Founding era1947, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.3) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 11%
NewerOlder
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 19%

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 Gulf Shores’ 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. 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 Gulf Shores’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gulf Shores’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGulf State Park Casino: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Gulf Shores, in brief

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

Gulf Shores is a resort city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,014.

Its first post office opened in 1947. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 9,741 to 15,014 (+54%).

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

Timeline

Gulf Shores, 1880 to 1992

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880BuiltNicholson House is built
  3. 20th century
  4. 1947Post officeThe Gulf Shores post office opens
  5. 1958In the archiveGulf State Park Casino
  6. 1978On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1992In the archiveGulf Shores Alabama 1881
By decade

Gulf Shores, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s1 item
Gulf State Park Casino1958Gulf State Park Casino
1960s–1980snothing 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
1990s1 item
Gulf Shores Alabama 18811992Gulf Shores Alabama 1881
Today16 recent
E-B View- Gulf Shores Beach2006E-B View- Gulf Shores BeachFEMA - 11394 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11394 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11312 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11312 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11311 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11311 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11309 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11309 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11308 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11308 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11307 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11307 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11306 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11306 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11305 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11305 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11304 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11304 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11303 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11303 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11301 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11301 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11300 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11300 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11299 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11299 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …FEMA - 11297 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken on 09-26-2004 in Alabama2004FEMA - 11297 - Photograph by Jocelyn Augustino taken …ALMap-doton-GulfShores2004ALMap-doton-GulfShores
On the map

Gulf Shores on the map in 1978

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gulf Shores.

Gulf Shores on the 1978 USGS map1978Pensacola sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gulf Shores.

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.

Gulf State Park Casino
Retake this viewGulf State Park Casino, 1958

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Gulf Shores

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Nicholson House
Nicholson House, built 1880
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gulf Coast Cottage1
Nicholson HouseGulf Coast Cottage · Built 1880

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

People over time

Gulf Shores, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,000196019802000202015,014

Grew from 356 people in 1960 to 15,014 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Gulf Shores’s post office has been open since 1947.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bay Village Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Brights Creek Gas FieldoilfieldEast Oyster Bay Gas FieldoilfieldGulf State Park Gas FieldoilfieldSwifts Landing Gas Fieldoilfield
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gulf Shores
Miller MemorialWallace

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Orange BeachIts storyD−Foley1 historic placeC

Questions about Gulf Shores’ history

What year was Gulf Shores founded?

The Gulf Shores post office opened in 1947, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Gulf Shores rank for history?

Gulf Shores is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #151 of 187 in Alabama. 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.

What is on the National Register in Gulf Shores?

One place: the Nicholson House (listed 1988).

How old are the homes in Gulf Shores?

0.3% of Gulf Shores’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 2000.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.