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History · Langston

Langston’s post office opened in 1835

Most of Langston was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1900.

1835first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Langston began

When was Langston founded?

1835

The Langston post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 270 in 19002020 census: 265191 years
Founding year: the first Langston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Langston’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Then and now2 places photographed years apart.Boom and bustPeaked at 500 in 1920; 265 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1835: 191 years of Langston.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Langston’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPost Office: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Then & now

The same spot, 80 years apart

Drag across each photo to compare.

Langston-old-post-office-alPost Office19372017
Post OfficeMatched from the two captions
Langston-post-office-alPost Office19372017
Post OfficeMatched from the two captions
People over time

Langston, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 500

Peaked at 500 in 1920; 265 people lived here in 2020.

7 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Langston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Langston.

Read it all →

Langston was settled in the 1810s, and was initially known as "Coffeetown" after the Coffee brothers, who were among the early settlers. A post office was established in 1845 with Langston Coffee as the first postmaster. In 1869, most of Coffeetown's residents moved to Texas, and the following year, James Morgan sold lots for the creation of a new town. The new town was named "Langston" after Langston Coffee.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Langston, 1835 to 1937

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835Post officeThe Langston post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 500
  5. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1937In the archivePost Office
By decade

Langston, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items
Post Office1937Post OfficePost Office1937Post Office
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
Langston-tornado-shelter-al2017Langston-tornado-shelter-alLangston-post-office-al2017Langston-post-office-alLangston-old-post-office-al2017Langston-old-post-office-alLangston-meadow-al2017Langston-meadow-alLangston-United-Methodist-Church-al2017Langston-United-Methodist-Church-alLangston-Town-Hall-al2017Langston-Town-Hall-alGuntersville Lake, United States (Unsplash)2016Guntersville Lake, United States (Unsplash)Guntersville Lake, United States (Unsplash UhagOo7IOyc)2016Guntersville Lake, United States (Unsplash UhagOo7IOy…
On the map

Langston on the map, 1936 to 1984

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

Langston on the 1936 USGS mapLangston on the 1950 USGS mapLangston on the 1970 USGS mapLangston on the 1984 USGS map1936Langston 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 Langston.

Famous people

Famous people close to Langston

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

See all →
J
John Allen ChauAmerican missionary · b. 1991
Angela LittleAmerican actress · b. 1972
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
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Langston’s post office has been open since 1835.

Gone or out of use
Langston SchoolschoolSaint Joseph Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Langston
BoydLangstonNicholsonRomanVaught

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

Questions about Langston’s history

What year was Langston founded?

The Langston post office opened in 1835, 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 Wikimedia Commons (10), 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.