The story
Read it all →How Littleville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Littleville.
The town was named for Captain Little, who kept a store there.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Littleville
Littleville’s post office opened in 1886
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Littleville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1924 on and the census since 1960.
1886first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Littleville began
When was Littleville founded?
1886
The Littleville post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Camp Smith (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 460 in 19602020 census: 1,038140 years
How historic is Littleville?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Littleville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Littleville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Littleville is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Littleville’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.0% of homes (±5.5) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical AL town 2.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
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 Littleville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Littleville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Littleville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Littleville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Littleville on the map, 1924 to 1988
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Littleville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1924Tuscumbia sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Littleville.
Timeline
Littleville, 1876 to 1924
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Add from your albumPeople over time
Littleville, census by census
Between 460 and 1,262 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Littleville’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Littleville
Nobody well known was born in Littleville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
S
Sonequa Martin-GreenAmerican actress · b. 1985
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Littleville had its own post office from 1886 to 1912. Another post office, Camp Smith, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Camp Smith
Littleville
18701950today
1cemetery inside Littleville
Hyde
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Littleville’s history
What year was Littleville founded?
The Littleville post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Littleville rank for history?
Littleville is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Littleville?
5% of Littleville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1976.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
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.