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CHistory
History · Hamilton

Hamilton’s post office opened in 1872, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #117 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Most of Hamilton was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Ernest Baxter Fite House. Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1900.

1872first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hamilton began

When was Hamilton founded?

1872

The Hamilton post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1896. Another post office, Toll Gate (1839), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 235 in 19002020 census: 7,042154 years

How historic is Hamilton?

C

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Hamilton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1896.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hamilton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hamilton is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #117 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hamilton’s overall grade.
Founding era1872, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.7% of homes (±1.7) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 1.4 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
NewerOlder
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 38%

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 Hamilton’s 1.4 sits near the middle of its state (54% 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 C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1896 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Hamilton’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 Hamilton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Hamilton, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old burying grounds13 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hamilton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hamilton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Hamilton’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Toll Gate, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Toll Gate
1839–1882
Hamilton
1872–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Fulton BridgePleasant RidgeWeston
Gone or out of use
Hamilton Gas Fieldoilfield
13cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hamilton
BishopCooperHamiltonHamilton CityKeyLebanonLovejoyPleasant RidgePoplar LogPoplar LogRocky GroveStreetmanTerrell

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

The story

How Hamilton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hamilton.

Read it all →

Hamilton was founded in the early 19th century by settlers who moved to the Alabama Territory from Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas. It is built upon lands that once served as "hunting grounds" for the Chickasaw people. The city was first called "Toll Gate", but its name later changed in honor of one of its distinguished citizens, Captain Albert James Hamilton (known as A.J. Hamilton), who had represented Marion County in the state legislature in the sessions of 1869, 1874 and 1875. Captain Hamilton donated forty acres of his land to the town. The same forty acres were then divided into lots and sold to help defray the cost of building the courthouse. The Toll Gate community was elected in 1881 to be the next county seat, and by 1883 the Marion County courthouse in Pikeville had ceased to be functional. When the courthouse was moved from Pikeville to Toll Gate, t…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hamilton, 1839 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Toll Gate post office opens
  3. 1872Post officeThe Hamilton post office opens
  4. 1882Post officeThe Toll Gate post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1927BuiltErnest Baxter Fite House is built
  7. 1940Born hereBookie Bolin is born here
  8. 1941Born hereRoger Brown is born here
  9. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hamilton, decade by decade

Today37 recent
Gravel Pit - panoramio (1)2012Gravel Pit - panoramio (1)Creek - panoramio (12)2012Creek - panoramio (12)Creek - panoramio (11)2012Creek - panoramio (11)Buttahatchee River2012Buttahatchee RiverButtahatchee River - panoramio (1)2012Buttahatchee River - panoramio (1)Bedford Industrial Park2012Bedford Industrial ParkBedford Industrial Park - panoramio (1)2012Bedford Industrial Park - panoramio (1)Key Branch Park2011Key Branch ParkHamilton, AL, USA2011Hamilton, AL, USAHamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (5)2011Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (5)Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (12)2011Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (12)Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (1)2011Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (1)Love Joy Church in rural Alabama2010Love Joy Church in rural AlabamaPurple Martin bird gourd houses2010Purple Martin bird gourd housesPurple Martin bird gourd houses2010Purple Martin bird gourd housesJerry Brown pottery2010Jerry Brown potteryJerry Brown pottery2010Jerry Brown potteryJerry Brown pottery2010Jerry Brown potteryJerry Brown pottery2010Jerry Brown potteryWilliams Creek2010Williams CreekRoadside - panoramio (1)2010Roadside - panoramio (1)Purple Martin bird gourd houses2010Purple Martin bird gourd housesPurple Martin bird gourd houses2010Purple Martin bird gourd housesPostell's2010Postell'sNature delight2010Nature delightMcCracken2010McCrackenMcCracken - panoramio (1)2010McCracken - panoramio (1)Light - panoramio (8)2010Light - panoramio (8)Jerry Brown pottery2010Jerry Brown potteryJerry Brown pottery2010Jerry Brown potteryHamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (9)2010Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (9)Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (8)2010Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (8)Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (7)2010Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (7)Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (6)2010Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (6)Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (4)2010Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (4)Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (3)2010Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (3)Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (36)2002Hamilton, AL, USA - panoramio (36)
On the map

Hamilton on the map, 1967 to 1983

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

Hamilton on the 1967 USGS mapHamilton on the 1983 USGS map1967Hamilton 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 Hamilton.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hamilton

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
1997
Ernest Baxter Fite House
Ernest Baxter Fite House, built 1927
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Colonial Revival1
Ernest Baxter Fite HouseLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals · Built 1927

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

People over time

Hamilton, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,50019001920194019601980200020207,042

Grew from 235 people in 1900 to 7,042 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Hamilton

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

See all →
R
Roger BrownAmerican painter · b. 1941
B
Bookie BolinAmerican football player · b. 1940

Questions about Hamilton’s history

What year was Hamilton founded?

The Hamilton post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1896.

How does Hamilton rank for history?

Hamilton is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Hamilton?

One place: the Ernest Baxter Fite House (listed 1997).

How old are the homes in Hamilton?

2% of Hamilton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (30), the Library of Congress (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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) 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.