Most of Phil Campbell was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1920.
Founding year: the first Phil Campbell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Phil Campbell’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Phil Campbell is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Phil Campbell’s overall grade.
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 Phil Campbell’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 still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points). 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 Phil Campbell’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 1,549 in 1980; 992 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Phil Campbell’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Phil Campbell, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Phil Campbell yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Phil Campbell is a town in Franklin County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 992. It is one of two towns in Alabama to have the first and last name of an individual; the other being Susan Moore. It is the largest city in southern Franklin County.
Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,148 to 992 (-14%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Phil Campbell, 1892 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Phil Campbell. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1936Phil Campbell 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 Phil Campbell.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Phil Campbell’s post office has been open since 1892.
Gone or out of use
Mars Hill ChurchchurchMars Hill Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Phil Campbell
Mars HillPhil Campbell
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Phil Campbell’s history
What year was Phil Campbell founded?
The Phil Campbell post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Phil Campbell rank for history?
Phil Campbell is more historic than 21% 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.
How old are the homes in Phil Campbell?
5% of Phil Campbell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (4), 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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