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History · River Falls

River Falls’ post office opened in 1871

Most of River Falls was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1910.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How River Falls began

When was River Falls founded?

1871

The River Falls post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 760 in 19102020 census: 479155 years
Founding year: the first River Falls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about River Falls’ 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 River Falls are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,107 in 1920; 479 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start River Falls’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how River Falls’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
People over time

River Falls, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,107

Peaked at 1,107 in 1920; 479 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

River Falls, in brief

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

River Falls is a town in Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 479. The town contains the neighborhood of Montezuma, which was once an unincorporated community and the first county seat of Covington County, before the seat moved to Andalusia.

Its first post office opened in 1871. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 526 to 479 (-9%).

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

Timeline

River Falls, 1871 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe River Falls post office opens
  3. 1897Born hereNoah Caton is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,107
  6. 1971On 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.
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On the map

River Falls on the map, 1971 to 1984

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

River Falls on the 1971 USGS mapRiver Falls on the 1984 USGS map1971River Falls 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 River Falls.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

River Falls’s post office has been open since 1871.

Gone or out of use
Duns Milllocale
1cemetery inside River Falls
River Falls

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

Questions about River Falls’ history

What year was River Falls founded?

The River Falls post office opened in 1871, 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, 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.