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History · Memphis

Memphis’ post office opened in 1844

Most of Memphis was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1974 on, and the census since 1850.

1844first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Memphis’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Memphis began

When was Memphis founded?

1844

The Memphis post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 156 in 18502020 census: 29182 years
Founding year: the first Memphis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Memphis’ past

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

Deep rootsA post office since 1844: 182 years of Memphis.Mystery photos5 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · Timeline

Memphis, 1844 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Memphis post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Memphis post office closes
  5. 1974On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Help out

Start Memphis’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo5 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTown of Memphis: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Memphis, in brief

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

Memphis, also known as Old Memphis, is a town in Pickens County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Memphis had a population of 29. As long ago as 1850, it was listed as an incorporated community on the U.S. Census, but did not appear again on the rolls until its reincorporation in 1976. In 1981, it had the "dubious" distinction of being ranked the poorest incorporated community in the United States according to the U.S. Census. As of 1984, then-Mayor Jimmy Williams (b. c1922) stated the town received just $2,000 per year from state tax receipts and federal revenue-sharing funds and a sum total of $40 in the bank. It was hoped the completion of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway w…

Its first post office opened in 1844. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 29 in 2010, 29 in 2020.

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

By decade

Memphis, decade by decade

Date unknown5 to date
Town of MemphisDate?Town of MemphisCharity House, Outbuilding, State Route 32 & County Route 1Date?Charity House, Outbuilding, State Route 32 & County R…Charity House, State Route 32 & County Route 1 vicinityDate?Charity House, State Route 32 & County Route 1 vicini…Charity House, Outhouse, State Route 32 & County Route 1 vicinityDate?Charity House, Outhouse, State Route 32 & County Rout…Will Boykin House, State Route 32 & County Route 1 vicinityDate?Will Boykin House, State Route 32 & County Route 1 vi…
On the map

Memphis on the map, 1974 to 1982

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

Memphis on the 1974 USGS mapMemphis on the 1982 USGS map1974Pickensville 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 Memphis.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Town of Memphis
Retake this viewTown of Memphis

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Memphis’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Memphis, census by census

01001850190019502000Peak: 156

Between 29 and 156 people in every census since 1850.

7 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Memphis had its own post office from 1844 to 1906.

Memphis
1844–1906
18401930today

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

Questions about Memphis’ history

What year was Memphis founded?

The Memphis post office opened in 1844, 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 the Library of Congress (5), 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.