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History · Hayneville

Hayneville dates to 1820, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Hayneville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Lowndes County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1981 on and the census since 1850.

1820founded
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hayneville began

When was Hayneville founded?

1820

Hayneville dates its founding to 1820 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 800 in 18502020 census: 830206 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hayneville’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 Hayneville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1850 and 1890, then more than doubled.Deep rootsEstablished in 1820: 206 years of Hayneville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hayneville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hayneville’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
People over time

Hayneville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001850190019502000800 in 1850Low: 355

Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1890, then more than doubled.

8 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Timeline

Hayneville, 1820 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820
    FoundingHayneville is established
  3. 1820Post officeThe Big Swamp post office opens
  4. 1831Post officeThe Big Swamp post office closes
  5. 1831Post officeThe Hayneville post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1921Born hereRuth Reese is born here
  8. 1942Born hereBilly Parker is born here
  9. 1981On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 21st century
  11. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 1,177
The story

How Hayneville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hayneville.

Read it all →

Hayneville was founded in 1820 by settlers from the Edgefield, Abbeville, and Colleton districts of South Carolina on property purchased from the U.S. Land Office at Cahawba. Throughout the 1820s, Hayneville was known as "Big Swamp". The indigenous Muscogee Creek people had been forced to cede their lands under various treaties with the United States, and most of them were removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

In 1831, after being chosen as the county seat of Lowndes County, the town was officially named Hayneville in honor of Robert Y. Hayne, governor of South Carolina and a U.S. senator.

ChaptersSettlement (1820-1831)Late 19th and early 20th centuryCivil Rights Era and "Bloody Lowndes" (1965)Incorporation (1967-1968)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hayneville, decade by decade

Today12 recent
USDA and EPA Partner for Wastewater Sanitation (20220801-RD-LSC-0139)2022USDA and EPA Partner for Wastewater Sanitation (20220…Earth Day - Rural Development (20220801-RD-LSC-0515)2022Earth Day - Rural Development (20220801-RD-LSC-0515)Earth Day - Rural Development (20220801-RD-LSC-0432)2022Earth Day - Rural Development (20220801-RD-LSC-0432)Earth Day - Rural Development (20220801-RD-LSC-0258)2022Earth Day - Rural Development (20220801-RD-LSC-0258)Earth Day - Rural Development (20220801-RD-LSC-0249)2022Earth Day - Rural Development (20220801-RD-LSC-0249)Hayneville, Alabama2012Hayneville, AlabamaHayneville, Alabama Town Hall2012Hayneville, Alabama Town HallHayneville, Alabama Post Office 360402012Hayneville, Alabama Post Office 36040Untitled photo2011Untitled photoUntitled photo2011Untitled photoUntitled photo2011Untitled photoUntitled photo2011Untitled photo
On the map

Hayneville on the map in 1981

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hayneville.

Hayneville on the 1981 USGS map1981Hayneville 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 Hayneville.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hayneville

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
1971
Lowndes County Courthouse
Lowndes County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Lowndes County CourthouseGreek Revival

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Hayneville

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

See all →
Ruth ReeseAmerican-Norwegian singer, poet, and civil righ… · b. 1921
Billy ParkerAmerican baseball player · b. 1942
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Hayneville’s post office has been open since 1831. Another post office, Big Swamp, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Big Swamp
1820–1831
Hayneville
1831–today
18201920today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hayneville
HaynevilleMushat Gilchrist

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

Questions about Hayneville’s history

What year was Hayneville founded?

In 1820, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hayneville’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1850 counted 800 people here.

What is on the National Register in Hayneville?

One place: the Lowndes County Courthouse (listed 1971).

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 (12), 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.