The story
Read it all →How Pike Road came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Pike Road.
Pike Road was founded in 1815. Pike Road was incorporated in 1997.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Pike Road
Pike Road dates to 1815
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #111 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Pike Road was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 2000.
1815founded
0on the National Register
0.6%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Pike Road began
When was Pike Road founded?
1815
Pike Road dates its founding to 1815 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 2000.
First census: 310 in 20002020 census: 9,439211 years
How historic is Pike Road?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pike Road’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pike Road is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #111 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pike Road’s overall grade.
Founding era1815, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19400.6% of homes (±0.8) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%DNational 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 29%
NewerOlder
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 41%
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 Pike Road’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1815.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Pike Road’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Pike Road’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pike Road’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Pike Road’s post office has been open since 1871.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Eastwood VillaFoxwoodKnollwoodMcDadeMerryRolling Hills
Gone or out of use
Bateslocale
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pike Road
AshurstGilderGilmerHillHowellLucas HillMathisRay
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Pike Road, 1815 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1815FoundingPike Road is established
- 1871Post officeThe Pike Road post office opens
- 20th century
- 1958
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Pike Road, decade by decade
2026
2026
2004On the map
Pike Road on the map, 1958 to 1987
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pike Road. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Mount Meigs sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pike Road.
People over time
Pike Road, census by census
Grew from 310 people in 2000 to 9,439 in 2020, more than tenfold.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pike Road’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Pike Road
Nobody well known was born in Pike Road itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Pike Road’s history
What year was Pike Road founded?
In 1815, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Pike Road’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 2000 counted 310 people here.
How does Pike Road rank for history?
Pike Road is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #111 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 Pike Road?
0.6% of Pike Road’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 2006.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), Wikipedia, 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.