Jasper dates to 1815, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #12 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Jasper was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 124 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1880.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jasper is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #12 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jasper’s overall grade.
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 Jasper’s 89.3 sits above most of its state (81% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 129 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1815.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Jasper’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Jasper, building by building, 1894–1916
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Jasper’s post office has been open since 1842.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Camak MillsFive PointsFrisco QuartersHillsdaleHudson Mobile Home ParkHudson SettlementOak Hill
Gone or out of use
Flat Branch SchoolschoolHawes Drift MinemineJasper Gas FieldoilfieldRice MinemineWalker County AirportairportWilson Hill Minemine
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Jasper
New ProspectOak HillOld CitySamariaWalker Memory Gardens
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Jasper, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Jasper yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Jasper is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Jasper had a population of 14,572. Named in honor of Sergeant William Jasper, an American Revolutionary War hero, Jasper was settled around 1815 and incorporated on August 18, 1886. The first significant growth of the area was in 1886 when the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham Railroad and the Sheffield & Birmingham Railroads were completed through Jasper. The population grew from 200 people in 1886 to more than 3,000 in 1890. In a special edition in 1891, the Mountain Eagle stated there were six coal mines, two sandstone quarries, 400 coke ovens, one foundry and machine shop, two saw …
Jasper was established in 1815. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 14,352 in 2010, 14,572 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Jasper, 1815 to 1993
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
In 1815, according to Wikidata. Jasper’s post office opened in 1842, and the census of 1880 counted 269 people here.
How does Jasper rank for history?
Jasper is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #12 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 Jasper?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Bankhead House (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Jasper Downtown Historic District, with 124 contributing buildings. 129 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Jasper?
9% of Jasper’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (21), the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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