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History · Jacksons' Gap

Jacksons' Gap’s post office opened in 1874

Most of Jacksons' Gap was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1890.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Rivers Langley; http://www.phoenixrivers.blogspot.com · Public domain
Quick answers

How Jacksons' Gap began

When was Jacksons' Gap founded?

1874

The Jacksons' Gap post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Jackson's Camp (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 207 in 18902020 census: 747152 years
Founding year: the first Jacksons' Gap post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Jacksons' Gap’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 Jacksons' Gap are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1981. Watch Jacksons' Gap change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jacksons' Gap’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jacksons' Gap’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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On the map

Jacksons' Gap on the map, 1906 to 1981

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

Jacksons' Gap on the 1906 USGS mapJacksons' Gap on the 1971 USGS mapJacksons' Gap on the 1981 USGS map1906Dadeville sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Jacksons' Gap came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jacksons' Gap.

Read it all →

Jackson's Gap was named for a local settler in the early 19th century. The town got its name after a man erected a cabin and traded with the Creeks and local settlers and travelers, possibly in the 1810s or 1820s. Some time after, a fellow named Patterson established a blacksmith shop there, and more settlers began to arrive from Georgia and South Carolina in the 1830s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Jacksons' Gap, 1849 to 1906

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Jackson's Camp post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Jackson's Camp post office closes
  4. 1874Post officeThe Jacksons Gap post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Jacksons' Gap, decade by decade

Today4 recent
2021-03-18 Jackson's Gap, AL - Town Hall and Police Department20212021-03-18 Jackson's Gap, AL - Town Hall and Police D…2021-03-18 Jackson's Gap, AL - Post Office20212021-03-18 Jackson's Gap, AL - Post Office2021-03-18 Jackson's Gap, AL - Jackson's Gap Volunteer Fire Department20212021-03-18 Jackson's Gap, AL - Jackson's Gap Voluntee…Jacksons Gap Alabama2008Jacksons Gap Alabama
People over time

Jacksons' Gap, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 828

Between 207 and 828 people in every census since 1890.

5 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Jackson's Camp, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jackson's Camp
1849–1866
Jacksons Gap
1874–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Jacksons Gap
Gone or out of use
Jacksons Gap Schoolschool

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.

Dadeville1 historic placeA−Alexander City7 historic placesB−

Questions about Jacksons' Gap’s history

What year was Jacksons' Gap founded?

The Jacksons' Gap post office opened in 1874, 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 →
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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 (4), 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.