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History · Hollywood

Hollywood’s post office opened in 1887

Most of Hollywood was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1900.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Sesamehoneytart · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Hollywood began

When was Hollywood founded?

1887

The Hollywood post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bellefonte Depot (1857) and Samples (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 168 in 19002020 census: 914139 years
Founding year: the first Hollywood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hollywood’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 Hollywood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1950 and 1960, then grew 3-fold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hollywood.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hollywood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Hollywood, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001900192019401960198020002020477 in 1950Low: 246

Lost half of its people between 1950 and 1960, then grew 3-fold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Hollywood’s post office has been open since 1887. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bellefonte Depot
1857–1857
Samples
1883–1887
Hollywood
1887–today
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Bellefonte Depotlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hollywood
HansbroughNorwoodPinehaven Memorial Gardens

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

The story

How Hollywood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hollywood.

Read it all →

Originally established as Samples on December 14, 1883, the town was renamed as Hollywood on May 13, 1887. It formally incorporated on May 24, 1897, and held its first election on June 8 of that year.

In 1994, it and 10 other towns named Hollywood successfully fought Hollywood, California's attempt to trademark its name and force same-named communities to pay royalties to it. A key point was that Hollywood in Alabama was the first incorporated Hollywood in the nation, whereas the one in California did not incorporate until 1903, 6 years after Alabama's. In addition, it merged with Los Angeles in 1910 and was no longer identified as a separate city.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hollywood, 1857 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Bellefonte Depot post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe Bellefonte Depot post office closes
  4. 1883Post officeThe Samples post office opens
  5. 1887Post officeThe Samples post office closes
  6. 1887Post officeThe Hollywood post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,110
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Hollywood on the map, 1936 to 1980

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

Hollywood on the 1936 USGS mapHollywood on the 1950 USGS mapHollywood on the 1970 USGS mapHollywood on the 1980 USGS map1936Hollywood 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 Hollywood.

Famous people

Famous people close to Hollywood

Nobody well known was born in Hollywood itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jobyna RalstonAmerican actress · b. 1899
J
John Allen ChauAmerican missionary · b. 1991
Philip OberAmerican stage, film and television actor · b. 1902
T
Thomas H. CookAmerican writer · b. 1947
Katherine StinsonAmerican aviator · b. 1891
Tim FlockAmerican racecar driver · b. 1924
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Scottsboro4 historic placesB

Questions about Hollywood’s history

What year was Hollywood founded?

The Hollywood post office opened in 1887, 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 Wikipedia, 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.