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History · Notasulga

Notasulga’s post office opened in 1849, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 8 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1880.

1849first post office
3on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Notasulga’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Notasulga began

When was Notasulga founded?

1849

The Notasulga post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Moore's Cross Roads (1843), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 236 in 18802020 census: 914177 years
Founding year: the first Notasulga post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Notasulga’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.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1981. Watch Notasulga change.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Notasulga.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Notasulga’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Notasulga’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 photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey W. N…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Notasulga on the map, 1906 to 1981

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

Notasulga on the 1906 USGS mapNotasulga on the 1971 USGS mapNotasulga on the 1981 USGS map1906Dadeville sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Notasulga.

Timeline

Notasulga, 1843 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1843Post officeThe Moore's Cross Roads post office opens
  3. 1849Post officeThe Moore's Cross Roads post office closes
  4. 1849Post officeThe Notasulga post office opens
  5. 1891Born hereZora Neale Hurston is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Born hereJohn K. Hodnette is born here
  8. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1976Born hereAaron Fields is born here
  10. 1980Born hereTyrone Levett is born here
The story so far

Notasulga, in brief

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

Notasulga is a town in Macon and Lee counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 914. The portion in Lee County is part of the Auburn Metropolitan Area. According to the 1910 U.S. Census, it incorporated in 1893. Author Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga in 1891. The town name comes from the Creek words noti sulgi, which means "many teeth".

Its first post office opened in 1849. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 965 to 914 (-5%).

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

By decade

Notasulga, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, March 17, 1934. WATER WHEEL TO MILL. - Le Sueur's Mill,…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Pho…Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, March 31st, 1934. MILL RACE AND MILL. - Le Sueur's Mill…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Pho…
Today4 recent
Notasulga High School2017Notasulga High SchoolNotasulga Town Council2012Notasulga Town CouncilNotasulga12007Notasulga1AL-Notasulga-location-in-Lee-and-Macon2006AL-Notasulga-location-in-Lee-and-Macon
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.

Historic American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, March 17, 1934. WATER WHEEL TO MILL. - Le Sueur's Mill,…
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey W. N. Manning, Photographer, March 17, 1934. WATER WHEEL TO MILL. - Le Sueur's Mill,…

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Notasulga

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
2010
Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and Rosenwald …
Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and Rosenwald SchoolMacon County High School
DistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Bungalow/Craftsman1
Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and Rosenwald SchoolBungalow/Craftsman
All 3 listings
Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church CemeterySite · listed 2016Macon County High SchoolDistrict · listed 2020

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Notasulga, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 979

Between 236 and 979 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Notasulga

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Zora Neale HurstonAfrican American folklorist, novelist, short st… · b. 1891
J
John K. HodnetteAmerican engineer · b. 1902
T
Tyrone LevettAmerican basketball player · b. 1980
A
Aaron FieldsAmerican football player, defensive end · b. 1976
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Notasulga’s post office has been open since 1849. Another post office, Moore's Cross Roads, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Moore's Cross Roads
1843–1849
Notasulga
1849–today
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Apple Grove ChurchchurchMacedonia Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Notasulga
BethlehemNotasulga City

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

Questions about Notasulga’s history

What year was Notasulga founded?

The Notasulga post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Notasulga?

Three places: the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and Rosenwald School (listed 2010), the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery (2016) and the Macon County High School (2020).

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.