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C+History
History · Ohatchee

Ohatchee’s post office opened in 1883, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Ohatchee was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the Janney Furnace. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1960.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ohatchee began

When was Ohatchee founded?

1883

The Ohatchee post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1956. Three smaller post offices, Ohatchie (1840), Ten Islands (1840) and Francis (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 437 in 19602020 census: 1,157143 years

How historic is Ohatchee?

C+

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Ohatchee post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1956.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ohatchee’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ohatchee is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ohatchee’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.1% of homes (±4.3) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 8.7 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
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 Ohatchee’s 8.7 sits above most of its state (65% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1956.

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 Ohatchee’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 Ohatchee are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ohatchee, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ohatchee’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ohatchee’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Ohatchee’s post office has been open since 1883. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ohatchie
1840–1842
Ten Islands
1840–1874
Francis
1876–1906
Ohatchee
1883–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FrancisTen Islands

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

The story

How Ohatchee came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ohatchee.

Read it all →

Andrew Jackson used the area around present-day Ohatchee to prepare for the Battle of Talladega. Lyncoya Jackson was orphaned by the Battle of Tallushatchee in November 1813 and later sent to Jackson's Hermitage in Tennessee where he was raised. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis in 1828.

The site of the battle is marked with a large stone marker along Alabama Highway 144 between Alexandria and Ohatchee, near Tallaseehatchee Creek.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ohatchee, 1840 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Ohatchie post office opens
  3. 1840Post officeThe Ten Islands post office opens
  4. 1842Post officeThe Ohatchie post office closes
  5. 1874Post officeThe Ten Islands post office closes
  6. 1876Post officeThe Francis post office opens
  7. 1898Born hereClyde Propst is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1906Post officeThe Francis post office closes
  10. 1931Born hereRobert Bruce Propst is born here
  11. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ohatchee, decade by decade

Today6 recent
EF3 damage near2021EF3 damage nearEF3 Ohatchee, AL tornado radar image 1938Z 3-25-20212021EF3 Ohatchee, AL tornado radar image 1938Z 3-25-2021AL77sRoad-AL144ewSigns2013AL77sRoad-AL144ewSignsShoalcreek-ohatcheetornadodamage2011Shoalcreek-ohatcheetornadodamageOhatcheetornadodamagecalhounco2011OhatcheetornadodamagecalhouncoOhatcheetornadodamage2011Ohatcheetornadodamage
On the map

Ohatchee on the map, 1949 to 1972

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

Ohatchee on the 1949 USGS mapOhatchee on the 1972 USGS map1949Ohatchee 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 Ohatchee.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Ohatchee

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Janney Furnace
Janney Furnace
Sites
Janney FurnaceSite

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

People over time

Ohatchee, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001960198020002020Peak: 1,215

Between 437 and 1,215 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Ohatchee

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

See all →
Clyde PropstAmerican football player and coach, college ath… · b. 1898
R
Robert Bruce PropstUnited States federal judge · b. 1931

Questions about Ohatchee’s history

What year was Ohatchee founded?

The Ohatchee post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1956.

How does Ohatchee rank for history?

Ohatchee is more historic than 35% 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.

What is on the National Register in Ohatchee?

One place: the Janney Furnace (listed 1976).

How old are the homes in Ohatchee?

4% of Ohatchee’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1985.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.