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History · Lynn

Lynn’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Lynn was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1960.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Lynn began

When was Lynn founded?

1888

The Lynn post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Larissa (1857), Sponge (1882) and Parcoal (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 531 in 19602020 census: 610138 years
Founding year: the first Lynn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lynn’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 Lynn are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1960 and 1970, then more than doubled.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lynn, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lynn’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lynn’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

Lynn, census by census

01002003004005006007001960198020002020531 in 1960Low: 286

Lost half of its people between 1960 and 1970, then more than doubled.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lynn’s post office has been open since 1888. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Larissa
1857–1888
Sponge
1882–1883
Lynn
1888–today
Parcoal
1904–1908
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Black SwampGerman Crossing
Gone or out of use
Copperas Spring SchoolschoolDodd Drift MinemineParcoal Post Officepost officeSplunge Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lynn
Dodd MemorialLynn

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

The story so far

Lynn, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lynn yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lynn is a town in Winston County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in April 1952. At the 2020 census the population was 832. Up from the 2010 census (659) up from 597 in 2000.

Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 659 to 610 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Lynn, 1857 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Larissa post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Sponge post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Sponge post office closes
  5. 1888Post officeThe Larissa post office closes
  6. 1888Post officeThe Lynn post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 21st century
  10. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 659
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

Lynn on the map, 1958 to 1983

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

Lynn on the 1958 USGS mapLynn on the 1983 USGS map1958Lynn 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 Lynn.

Famous people

Famous people close to Lynn

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

See all →
Michael RookerAmerican actor · b. 1955
S
Sonequa Martin-GreenAmerican actress · b. 1985
Polly HollidayAmerican actress · b. 1937
James S. VossAmerican astronaut · b. 1949
Gustav HasfordUnited States Marine · b. 1947
Robert AderholtUnited States Representative from Alabama · b. 1965

Questions about Lynn’s history

What year was Lynn founded?

The Lynn post office opened in 1888, 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 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.