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C+History
History · Point Clear

Point Clear’s post office opened in 1877, and 5 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Point Clear was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 56 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1921 on, and the census since 1880.

1877first post office
5on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Point Clear’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Point Clear began

When was Point Clear founded?

1877

The Point Clear post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Battles (1875), Narcissus (1903) and Battles Wharf (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 49 in 18802020 census: 2,076149 years

How historic is Point Clear?

C+

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Point Clear post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Point Clear’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Point Clear is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Point Clear’s overall grade.
Founding era1877, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±1.2) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register5 listings, 58 historic buildings, 384 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 39%
NewerOlder

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 Point Clear’s 384 sits above most of its state (93% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 58 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 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 Point Clear’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Point Clear, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A historic districtThe Point Clear Historic District takes in 38 historic buildings.On the map since 19215 editions of the USGS map, 1921 to 1985. Watch Point Clear change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Point Clear’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPt. Clear, Ala. P.O: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Point Clear’s post office has been open since 1877. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Battles
1875–1903
Point Clear
1877–today
Narcissus
1903–1904
Battles Wharf
1904–1961
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Battles WharfHoustonvilleLoyola Villa
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Point Clear
Confederate RestTwin Beech

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

On the National Register

5 listings protect 58 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
58
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Battles Wharf Historic District
Twin Beach AME ChurchStreet House, built 1906Battles Wharf Historic DistrictBrodbeck-Zundel Historic DistrictPoint Clear Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Victorian3
Gulf Coast Cottage2
Medieval Eclectic1
Greek Revival1
Twin Beach AME ChurchMedieval Eclectic
Street HouseGulf Coast Cottage · Built 1906
All 5 listings
Battles Wharf Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1988Brodbeck-Zundel Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1988Point Clear Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1988

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

The story so far

Point Clear, in brief

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

Point Clear is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Point Clear had a population of 2,076. It is part of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area.

Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,125 to 2,076 (-2%).

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

Timeline

Point Clear, 1875 to 1921

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Battles post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Point Clear post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Battles post office closes
  6. 1903Post officeThe Narcissus post office opens
  7. 1904Post officeThe Narcissus post office closes
  8. 1906BuiltStreet House is built
  9. 1914In the archivePt. Clear, Ala. P.O
  10. 1921On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Point Clear, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Pt. Clear, Ala. P.O1914Pt. Clear, Ala. P.O
1920s–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
Today11 recent
Cannon at the Grand Hotel2010Cannon at the Grand HotelCannon at the Grand Hotel2010Cannon at the Grand HotelBeach at the Grand Hotel2010Beach at the Grand HotelRed barn, Route 98 near Point Clear, Alabama2010Red barn, Route 98 near Point Clear, AlabamaThe Grand Hotel2010The Grand HotelThe Grand Hotel2010The Grand HotelThe Grand Hotel2010The Grand HotelThe Grand Hotel2010The Grand HotelThe Grand Hotel2010The Grand HotelDock at Point Clear, Alabama2010Dock at Point Clear, AlabamaOak tree-SL2004Oak tree-SL
On the map

Point Clear on the map, 1921 to 1985

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

Point Clear on the 1921 USGS mapPoint Clear on the 1941 USGS mapPoint Clear on the 1956 USGS mapPoint Clear on the 1974 USGS mapPoint Clear on the 1985 USGS map1921Point Clear 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 Point Clear.

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.

Pt. Clear, Ala. P.O
Retake this viewPt. Clear, Ala. P.O, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Point Clear, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,125

Between 49 and 2,125 people in every census since 1880.

6 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Point Clear

Nobody well known was born in Point Clear itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Tim CookAmerican business executive, former Apple execu… · b. 1960
Lloyd J. Austin IIIUnited States 28th Secretary of Defense · b. 1953
Hank AaronAmerican baseball player · b. 1934
Laverne CoxAmerican actress and LGBT advocate · b. 1972
G
Gregory BenfordScience fiction author and astrophysicist · b. 1941
DeMarcus CousinsAmerican basketball player · b. 1990
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Fairhope15 historic placesB−

Questions about Point Clear’s history

What year was Point Clear founded?

The Point Clear post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Point Clear rank for history?

Point Clear is more historic than 39% 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.

What is on the National Register in Point Clear?

5 listings: 2 buildings and 3 historic districts, the Battles Wharf Historic District, the Brodbeck-Zundel Historic District and the Point Clear Historic District, with 56 contributing buildings. 58 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Point Clear?

0.0% of Point Clear’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1995.

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), the Library of Congress (11), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.