History · Pelham

Pelham’s post office opened in 1873

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #144 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Most of Pelham was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1970.

1873first post office

0on the National Register

0.4%homes built before 1940

1famous people

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Quick answers

How Pelham began, and where its name came from

When was Pelham founded?

1873

The Pelham post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hardyville (1898) and Keystone (1904), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 931 in 19702020 census: 24,318153 years

How did Pelham get its name?

Pelham was named for Confederate Civil War officer John Pelham.

How historic is Pelham?

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Pelham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

History grade

What drives Pelham’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pelham is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #144 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pelham’s overall grade.

Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19400.4% of homes (±0.5) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%D National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AL town 2.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%

NewerOlder

Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 23%

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 Pelham’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Pelham’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Pelham, and 15 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Pelham are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19055 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1997. Watch Pelham change.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

Pelham’s post office has been open since 1873. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pelham

1873–today

Hardyville

1898–1904

Keystone

1904–1972

18701950today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Blueberry EstatesCahaba Valley EstatesChandalar SouthDeer Springs EstatesFungo HollowHardyHunters GlenIndian HillsIndian Lake EstatesKeystoneLittle Oak Ridge EstatesMallard PointRoyal OaksValley StationWooddale

Gone or out of use

Jones SchoolschoolKintayaknilocaleOlive Branch Schoolschool

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pelham

OldhamPelham

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

Help out

Start Pelham’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pelham’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

On the map

Pelham on the map, 1905 to 1997

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

1905Bessemer Iron District sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story so far

Pelham, in brief

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

Pelham is a city in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. The population was 24,318 at the 2020 census. It incorporated on July 10, 1964, and is a suburb located in the Birmingham metropolitan area, Alabama which was home to nearly 1.2 million residents as of the 2020 census. It was named for Confederate Civil War officer John Pelham.

Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 21,352 to 24,318 (+14%).

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

Timeline

Pelham, 1873 to 1999

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

19th century
1873Post officeThe Pelham post office opens
1898Post officeThe Hardyville post office opens
20th century
1904Post officeThe Hardyville post office closes
1904Post officeThe Keystone post office opens
1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1972Post officeThe Keystone post office closes
1999Born hereAlex Reese is born here

By decade

Pelham, decade by decade

Today1 recent

2015Pelham High School

People over time

Pelham, census by census

Grew from 931 people in 1970 to 24,318 in 2020, more than tenfold.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

AlabasterIts storyD⁻ChelseaIts storyD⁻Helena1 historic placeB Hoover1 historic placeC Eagle PointIts storyD⁻Indian Springs VillageIts storyD⁻

Questions about Pelham’s history

What year was Pelham founded?

The Pelham post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Pelham rank for history?

Pelham is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #144 of 187 in Alabama. 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.

How old are the homes in Pelham?

0.4% of Pelham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 2001.

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 (1), 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.

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