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History · Penton

Penton’s post office opened in 1892, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Penton began

When was Penton founded?

1892

The Penton post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Langton City (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 163134 years
Founding year: the first Penton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Penton’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 Penton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Penton’s homes were built before 1942.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Penton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Penton’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
The story so far

Penton, in brief

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

Penton is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Chambers County, Alabama, United States. Its population was 163 as of the 2020 census which is down from a population of 201 people at the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 201 to 163 (-19%).

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

Timeline

Penton, 1890 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Langton City post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Penton post office opens
  4. 1893Post officeThe Langton City post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Penton post office closes
  7. 1921Born herePete Turnham is born here
  8. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Penton on the map, 1969 to 1978

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

Penton on the 1969 USGS mapPenton on the 1978 USGS map1969Milltown 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 Penton.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Penton had its own post office from 1892 to 1905. Another post office, Langton City, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Langton City
1890–1893
Penton
1892–1905
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LangdonUnion Hill
1cemetery inside Penton
Chappell

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

Questions about Penton’s history

What year was Penton founded?

The Penton post office opened in 1892, 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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.