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History · Newville

Newville’s post office opened in 1894

Most of Newville was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1910.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Newville began

When was Newville founded?

1894

The Newville post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 522 in 19102020 census: 544132 years
Founding year: the first Newville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Newville’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 Newville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 814 in 1980; 544 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Newville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Newville, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 814

Peaked at 814 in 1980; 544 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Newville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Newville.

Read it all →

James Madison Wells founded a village called "Wells" c. 1882. When the Abbeville Southern Railroad laid tracks through the town in 1893, its name was changed to "Wells Station". The post office was built in 1894. Wells Station incorporated as "Newville" in 1903.

The town of Newville became prosperous with merchants, banks, lodges, doctors, churches, Newville High School, Rosenwald High School, societies, a newspaper, a depot, sawmills, cotton gins, mule stables and all the elements required by a developing town. Newville's slow decline commenced after the Great Depression due to farm mechanization and loss of commerce.

ChaptersNewville Baptist Church CemeteryNewville High SchoolNewville Rosenwald School

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Newville, 1894 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Newville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1958Born hereWillie Tullis is born here
  5. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 814
By decade

Newville, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Newville, Alabama2012Newville, AlabamaNewville, Alabama Town Hall Police Department2012Newville, Alabama Town Hall Police DepartmentNewville, Alabama Post Office 363532012Newville, Alabama Post Office 36353
On the map

Newville on the map, 1969 to 1981

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

Newville on the 1969 USGS mapNewville on the 1981 USGS map1969Newville 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 Newville.

Questions about Newville’s history

What year was Newville founded?

The Newville post office opened in 1894, 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 (3), Wikipedia, 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) 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.