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History · Pickensville

Pickensville’s post office opened in 1835, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Pickensville was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1974 on, and the census since 1850.

1835first post office
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Pickensville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Pickensville began

When was Pickensville founded?

1835

The Pickensville post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Pickens (1822), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 276 in 18502020 census: 557191 years
Founding year: the first Pickensville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Pickensville’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1850 and 1970, then grew 4-fold.A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including MONTGOMERY (snagboat), a National Historic Landmark.Mystery photos8 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Deep rootsA post office since 1835: 191 years of Pickensville.
★ What stands out · People over time

Pickensville, census by census

01002003004005006007001850190019502000276 in 1850Low: 132

Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1970, then grew 4-fold.

11 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Pickensville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmark
1
MONTGOMERY (snagboat)
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
MONTGOMERY (snagboat)
MONTGOMERY (snagboat)★
Structures★ landmark
★ Landmark
MONTGOMERY (snagboat)Structure

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

Help out

Start Pickensville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pickensville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo8 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMontgomery on the Apalachicola: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Pickensville, in brief

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

Pickensville is a rural town in Pickens County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Pickensville had a population of 557. It was initially incorporated in 1839 (although two other sources claim 1825 and 1835) and briefly served before that as the first county seat of Pickens County. Carrollton was designated as the seat in the early 1830s. According to the U.S. Census, the incorporation of Pickensville lapsed after 1920. It did not reappear again on the rolls of incorporated towns until 1970.

Its first post office opened in 1835. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 608 to 557 (-8%).

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

Timeline

Pickensville, 1822 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1822Post officeThe Pickens post office opens
  3. 1833Born hereJacob H. Sharp is born here
  4. 1835Post officeThe Pickens post office closes
  5. 1835Post officeThe Pickensville post office opens
  6. 1848Born hereHarvey Butler Fergusson is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1925In the archiveMontgomery on the Apalachicola
  9. 1972Post officeThe Pickensville post office closes
  10. 1974On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1989LandmarkMONTGOMERY (snagboat) named a National Historic Landmark
  12. 21st century
  13. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 662
By decade

Pickensville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Montgomery on the Apalachicola1925Montgomery on the Apalachicola
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown8 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey Alex Bush, Photographer, April 14, 1937 EAST (FRONT) ELEVATION - Doctor Wilkins Hous…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Alex Bush, Photogr…Pickensville Methodist Church, Ferguson Street & Chopitoolas AvenueDate?Pickensville Methodist Church, Ferguson Street & Chop…Pickensville Stagecoach Inn, East side of Broad Street at Seymer RoadDate?Pickensville Stagecoach Inn, East side of Broad Stree…Baptist Church, Bonner Mill RoadDate?Baptist Church, Bonner Mill RoadStore, State Highways 14 & 86Date?Store, State Highways 14 & 86Ferguson-Long House, Chopitoulas Street (State Highway 14)Date?Ferguson-Long House, Chopitoulas Street (State Highwa…Doctor Wilkins House, State Highways 14 & 86 vicinityDate?Doctor Wilkins House, State Highways 14 & 86 vicinityHenry Williams Saunders House, Bonner Mill Road & Ferguson StreetDate?Henry Williams Saunders House, Bonner Mill Road & Fer…
Today9 recent
U.S. Snagboat Montgomery2021U.S. Snagboat MontgomeryPickensville Historic District2021Pickensville Historic DistrictAlabama State Route 14 Sign2018Alabama State Route 14 SignPickensville, Alabama2010Pickensville, AlabamaPickensville, Alabama2010Pickensville, AlabamaPickensville, Alabama2010Pickensville, AlabamaPickensville, Alabama2010Pickensville, AlabamaPickensville, Alabama2010Pickensville, AlabamaPickensville, Alabama2010Pickensville, Alabama
On the map

Pickensville on the map, 1974 to 1982

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

Pickensville on the 1974 USGS mapPickensville on the 1982 USGS map1974Pickensville 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 Pickensville.

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.

Montgomery on the Apalachicola
Retake this viewMontgomery on the Apalachicola, 1925

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Pickensville

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

See all →
Harvey Butler FergussonAmerican politician · b. 1848
J
Jacob H. SharpConfederate Army general · b. 1833
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Pickensville had its own post office from 1835 to 1972. Another post office, Pickens, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pickens
1822–1835
Pickensville
1835–1972
18201920today
Gone or out of use
Ivies LandinglocaleNances FerrycrossingPickens FerrycrossingPickensville FerrycrossingPickensville LandinglocalePickensville Lower LandinglocalePulliams Landinglocale
1cemetery inside Pickensville
Upper

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

Questions about Pickensville’s history

What year was Pickensville founded?

The Pickensville post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Pickensville?

One place: the MONTGOMERY (snagboat) (listed 1983).

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 (8), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (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.